Lily's Story
by Untiltheveryend7
Summary: Lily Evans is in her last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With returning long-ago memories, confusing feelings and a war raging outside the safe stone walls, Lily's year as Head Girl isn't going as peacefully as she thought it would.
1. Chapter 1

_** Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Lily's Story_

_Chapter 1_

_Last year,_ thought Lily sadly, as she pushed her trolley down the platform.

And indeed it was. Lily absentmindedly fiddled with the head girl badge pinned proudly to her chest as she watched the first years approach the solid brick wall. It seemed like so long ago that she had been here as a first year herself.

* * *

><p>Eleven-year-old Lily Evans was fairly uncertain about running through a solid brick wall. When her best friend of the time had first told her the procedure to get to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she'd been fairly surprised, that was for sure.<p>

"Are you _sure_ Sev?" she had asked, "I mean, it's impossible!"

"Would I lie to you, Lily?" He asked her, his deep black eyes warm and patient.

"_We have to walk through a brick wall_?" she squeaked.

"_Yes_. You, Lily Evans will walk through a solid brick wall on the first of September. Are we clear?" he smirked, looking up from the grass he was absent-mindedly picking at, and back into her equally green eyes.

Lily didn't feel embarrassed around Sev. He was always explaining things to her, about the new world that she would be entering in a month's time. Sometimes though, she wished that she knew more. She wished there was a book – an encyclopaedia on everything about the wizarding world. She'd like that – then she wouldn't have to keep bothering Sev... maybe she could even teach _him_ something for a change!

Sev had said that having non-magical parents wouldn't affect her at all at Hogwarts, but yet Lily still felt inadequate. She was no good at being normal, Tuney had made that perfectly clear in the previous months; but if she was deemed to be abnormal, she at least wanted to be good at it.

_Tuney. _She'd told Lily to stop calling her that.

"Tuney is what my _sister_ called me. You're not my sister, you're just a _freak_. So stop it. Or even better, just stop talking to me altogether."

Petunia had been sent to her room and grounded for a week for that comment. Not that Lily had told – Petunia had unwisely said the whole thing in front of her parents. Lily had begged them to let her sister off with the punishment – it would only make her hate her more. Her efforts were to no avail of course, she'd been fobbed off with an "Of course your sister doesn't hate you, Lily. It's just a phase, you'll see."

_Yeah right_.

Thinking of her sister, tears began to gather in Lily's green eyes. She tried to blink them away quickly, but it was no good. Severus had seen.

"Lily?" He asked, concerned. "Are you _crying_?"

"No," she said, but her voice broke – exposing her lie.

She could see Severus hesitating – she knew he hated any form of physical affection. To her surprise, he made up his mind, and put his arm round her.

"Tuney hates me," she whispered. Severus didn't say anything, but Lily could have sworn his arm had tightened slightly around her shoulders.

XXX

Seventeen year old Lily snapped out of the memory, and wiped her eyes, hoping nobody had noticed the head girl; alone and crying on the platform.

What she didn't need this year was a reputation for being weak. Things were getting worse in the wizarding world, and being a Muggleborn, well, it was essential that she showed her strength.

"Hey, Evans!"

She just about stopped the string of obscenities passing her lips. Maybe she should just sprint straight through the stone barrier. There was no point though, she figured. He would follow.

Lily blinked again; hoping her eyes weren't red, and turned round to face the boy who had been the bane of her life since their very first year.

"What do you want, Potter."

He looked rather taken aback. Lily supposed she was rather snappy, but really – what did he expect. He was Potter, and She was Evans.

And she guessed he had caught her at a bad moment.

He snapped back into Potter-mode though; his confidence unwavering. "Just wanted to congratulate you on getting Head Girl, Evans," he said, nodding at the badge. He hesitated for a moment, staring absently at the badge. Lily sighed.

"Save it Potter. Don't think I don't know that was just an excuse to stare at my chest," she said tiredly.

With no further ado, Lily turned her back on the boy with the messy hair and square glasses, and pushed her trolley towards the solid stone barrier, breaking into a run as she got closer.

"What? No! But... Evans!" She heard him call, as she sunk through the stone, onto the other side of the platform.

Despite her predicament, and the sudden wave of memories, the sight of the legendary scarlet steam train still made her smile.

It was the first of September, after all, and Lily Evans was ready to board the Hogwarts Express.

* * *

><p>"Lily! Congratulations! I'm so proud!" Alice Prewett nearly tackled Lily to the ground as she walked into their usual carriage. Lily giggled, and hugged her back.<p>

"Thanks Alice," she said smiling, to the short girl with the dark hair and sparking eyes.

"We knew it!" sang a voice from behind Alice. "You were _made_ to be Head Girl, Lily Evans!"

"Thanks, Marlene!" said Lily, hugging her more reserved best friend – although she supposed it wasn't hard to be more reserved than Alice.

Lily stood back and looked at her best friends – one a foot taller than the other.

They had changed so much since first year, but still, Marlene's blue eyes shone vibrantly, her blonde hair grown down to her waist in waves. Marlene always insisted that the neither-straight-nor-curly hair annoyed her, but Lily thought it was gorgeous.

And Alice, with her short black hair and bright brown eyes. Incidentally, it hadn't always been so short. After a disastrous potions lesson in which Alice had managed to set fire to her own hair, she had insisted that Lily sever it with her wand. With much protest, she had obliged, terrified of making a mistake. Luckily, Alice loved it; the cut looked great on her.

"Err, Lily, what's with the staring?" Alice asked, with an amused smile.

Lily grinned, "Just thinking about how much I love you guys," she said sweetly, pulling them into a hug again.

They laughed, and the three of them hugged tightly.

They stood there for around ten seconds before Marlene pushed them away.

"Sorry to interrupt the hug-fest Lils, but shouldn't you be at the prefect's meeting... you are leading it after all,"she said, pointing to the battered golden watch upon her wrist.

"_Shit!_" Lily yelped, and swung open the compartment door, ignoring the jibes from Alice and Marlene about the use of such foul language from the head girl.

She tore down the train, ignoring the giggles from students, and flung open the door of the prefect's compartment.

"Sorry I'm so late," she said, shutting it behind her without looking round.

"Err... it's alright, Evans."

No_ way._

She couldn't be correct; it was impossible. There was no chance – Dumbledore would have to be _insane._

But sure enough, Lily Evans' worst fears were confirmed. James Potter standing at the head of the meeting, the shiny Head Boy badge pinned to his robes.

Lily always had questioned Dumbledore's sanity.

XXX

**A/N: Yay! A new story! I hope you like it – let me know what you think :)**

**P.S. Those of you who read **_**Enough Trouble for a Lifetime**_** – I promise I'm not abandoning it! It will still be updated – honest!**


	2. Chapter 2

_** Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 2_

She supposed she'd just have to get along with him. There was no other option. She – the Head Girl couldn't be in a feud with the Head Boy, it would be entirely unprofessional.

Lily turned onto her right side again, sighing.

After all, he hadn't behaved too badly at the prefect's meeting. In fact, she'd been rather surprised at how well he _did_ conduct himself. She'd even begun to forget that he was James Potter, the ignorant bully. That was, apart from how he'd "accidentally" fallen against her on the way out of the compartment. But it could have been worse, that was for sure.

Sleep was evading Lily Evans that night. She'd been tossing and turning for hours, and she was pretty sure that the sun would rise soon. What bothered her most was that she couldn't sleep thanks to James Potter invading her thoughts every other second. _James Potter_.

How pathetic.

* * *

><p>"You look exhausted, Lily!" said Marlene the next morning as they were walking to breakfast. Lily groaned internally – she had performed a cover-up charm on the dark circles under her eyes, but evidently she still didn't look great.<p>

"It was just Alice's snoring keeping me up last night," she lied airily, "I'm fine."

"Hey!" Alice caught up with them as they entered the Great Hall, "I do _not_ snore!"

"Is that what Frank told you," Marlene commented with a wink.

Alice flushed, "of course not."

"And where have you been this morning, for that matter?" Lily said - glad the conversation was turning away from her.

Alice tuned pink.

"I went for a walk."

The other two girls burst into laughter; Alice hated any form of exercise – especially voluntary.

"Whatever you say," chucked Marlene.

Alice's cheeks grew redder still, and she kept silent as they reached their normal seats at the house bench.

The golden plates were already loaded with food, and Lily filled her plate feverishly. She was always starving when she woke up, for some absurd reason.

"Enough food there, Evans?" asked Sirius Black from the other side of the table.

"That's rich," said Lily, nodding at his plate.

"I'm a man," Sirius replied, grinning, "I'm allowed to eat like one!"

Lily snorted. What an ass.

"Now Black, I hate to bruise your ego, but I certainly wouldn't describe you as a man. Also, that statement was extraordinarily sexist, even by your standards."

Potter was sitting beside him, staring down at his plate. Lily was mildly surprised; usually he got involved in these petty arguments.

Although perhaps she was thinking too deeply into it. He was probably just engrossed in the food.

"I am a man," Sirius said, smirking as he flexed his muscles. "I don't know how you've resisted my charm all these years, Evans. No-one else has."

"Extraordinary willpower, I assure you," she replied dryly, helping herself to another fried egg.

Sirius studied her intently. "Ahh, I see. There was really no need to hold back, Evans. Now, how about you ditch that food, and accompany me to-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Lily snapped.

"-my bedroom," Sirius finished. "And then maybe-"

"Shut _up_!"

James and Lily spoke simultaneously, and then stared at each other, the rest of the Gryffindor table staring at them. Lily looked away as soon as their eyes met, and felt the fickle redhead blush stain her cheeks – for some unknown reason.

Lily picked up her knife and fork, and started eating from her heaped plate, carefully avoiding the gaze of her fellow head student.

Sirius had fallen silent, a satisfied smirk set on his face.

Marlene and Alice made up for her stony silence, starting a loud conversation to attract attention away from Lily. They continued to be louder than ever throughout the breakfast period, which Lily was grateful for, she didn't feel like socialising that morning, especially not in front of Potter and Black. They'd probably just make cracks at her, and she was not in the mood to put up with their idiocy.

It was Charms first that morning, which improved Lily's mood slightly – she always had loved charms. In her first ever practical class, she had been the only one to make her pencil levitate, of which she was very proud of at the time. The ability had stuck with her since then. The way in which she could change the properties of objects still outstanded her; she would often practise in the common room, making her quills slow dance. The others often called her a swat, but she didn't care. Spellwork was fun for her like Quidditch was to others.

She, Alice and Marlene reached the classroom first, and took their usual triple desk at the front of the room. Professor Flitwick bade them a good morning and they replied politely, easily making conversation with their teacher until the rest of the class arrived.

Filius Flitwick would never admit it, but if he were to choose favourites in the class, he would most certainly pick the three intelligent girls at the front of the classroom.

"Good morning, class!" Flitwick said, with far too much enthusiasm for a group of seventeen year olds at 9am.

"Today we will be practising the Bubble Head charm that I asked you to research over the summer. Now, I expect all of you have completed your research?

Lily nodded, but the professor wasn't looking at her. He had cast an eye to the back of the class, where the "Marauders" – Lily always had thought it an idiotic title – were sat. Potter and Black were talking in undertones, but the other two were paying attention. Peter and Remus elbowed their friends, alerting them to the teacher.

"Mr Black, Mr Potter, have you completed the homework you were given to do over the summer?"

"Well, you see Professor, the thing is..." Potter started in the arrogant tone Lily despised.

"Save it, Mr Potter. I expect you and Mr Black in detention at eight 'o'clock," Flitwick interrupted.

Lily smothered a laugh. She was glad she wasn't the only one in this universe who was impervious to Potter's charm.

"But sir," Potter continued, unfazed, "Let me show you."

And he commenced to perform the perfect Bubble Head charm on Black – which left Flitwick delighted, and the Head Boy annoyingly detention-free.

Bloody Potter.

* * *

><p>The rest of the lesson went fairly smoothly. Most of the class managed to successfully perform the charm – with the exception of Potter, who was already studying for the next lesson at the back of the classroom, his signature smirk firmly in place.<p>

Incidentally, he caught up with Lily as the bell rang for the end of the lesson.

"Hey, Evans!" he yelled. Lily sighed in frustration. Why couldn't she get away from James Potter today?

"I'll meet you in Potions," she said to Alice and Marlene. It was no good ignoring him – he'd just follow her to her next class. She knew that from past experience.

"Tell Slughorn I'll be there in a minute," it was lucky she and her friends took pretty much the same NEWT subjects.

When Alice and Marlene nodded and walked away, exchanging wary glances, she turned to face James.

"What do you want, Potter?"

James wasn't taken aback by her acid tone – quite the contrary – he seemed to revel in it; which annoyed her immensely.

"I just wanted to apologise for Sirius this morning," he said.

"He's an immature prat," Lily replied.

"He's just got a slightly juvenile sense of humour," he said, "it looked like you were pretty embarrassed, anyway," he said, taking a lock of her hair between his fingers. "Your cheeks were almost as red as your hair," he grinned his cocky smile as Lily took a step back, releasing her hair from his hold.

"Thank you for your concern, Potter," she said snappily. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to be making my way to Potions, before you make me late. _Again_." Lily turned her back on the boy with the dark hair, and walked away. She could feel her cheeks flaming again, and cursed her genes for the millionth time.

"Hey Evans!"

Lily didn't dignify him with a response.

"I have Potions too, remember? Let me walk you to class?"

Lily spun round again, her hair swinging around her face.

"Not in your wildest dreams, Potter."

With that, Lily Evans walked away at an increased pace, leaving a rather disheartened James Potter behind.


	3. Chapter 3

_** Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 3_

"Sorry I'm late, Professor," Lily puffed.

"That's quite alright, my dear... are you okay, Miss Evans?" Slughorn asked, looking faintly concerned at Lily's heavy breathing.

"I'm fine Professor... I just... walked a little too briskly."

Slughorn nodded, still looking slightly alarmed, and turned back to the instructions he was writing on the vast blackboard.

Lily tried to calm her flaming cheeks, and took her seat next to Marlene.

"What happened?" she said urgently.

"I had to run because I was late and..."

"No, you idiot. What happened with _James_?"

"Oh. The usual. He's just the same prat he's always been."

Marlene looked at her appraisingly.

"What?" Lily snapped, "Surely that's not surprising?"

"Well," Marlene replied, "I thought, after what happened this morning, he might have grown up a little. Maybe apologised or something."

"Don't be ridiculous," Lily said, wishing she could staunch the blood flow to her cheeks.

She knew Marlene had noticed – her best friends always knew when she was lying. Luckily for her, the Professor turned around at that moment, so Marlene had to let it go.

Lily was just glad that Alice was on the desk behind them; together, they would have been far more insistent.

The rest of the Potions lesson crawled by. Lily usually loved Potions, but they were practising one that Lily had perfected long ago. Lily liked a challenge, and the Draught of Living Death was definitely not one; she learned it in fourth year.

The Slytherins kept to themselves for a change, apparently working hard over their Potions. Lily had a strong suspicion that Slughorn had warned them to toe the line, following the almost-exclusion of their Quidditch Captain the previous year. He had supposedly coerced other house members into using the Imperious Curse on the Hufflepuff Captain to influence the last game of the season. She personally had no doubt that it was true, but there was 'no evidence' apart from the testimony of the victim. Apparently that wasn't enough, as Dumbledore let the unpleasant youth off with a simple warning.

So it turned out that there wasn't even the amusement factor of rebuking Crabbe and Avery's insults in this never-ending lesson... not that she was complaining, their insults were never much of a challenge, they were so dim witted.

Not like Potter.

For some reason, Lily kept finding herself looking at the door. She couldn't help wondering where Potter had gotten to. Maybe he had skipped the lesson, planning trouble.

Of course, that was it. Potter must be up to something; plotting one of his immature Marauder pranks, no doubt.

Lily was proven wrong approximately twenty minutes later.

James Potter walked into the Potions classroom just before the end of the lesson. He was quiet and subdued as Slughorn lectured him about being so inexcusably late. He wouldn't give a reason – which was most definitely out of character; James always had a suave answer as to why he didn't obey the rules set to everyone else.

Lily wondered why he was late. She wasn't so sure about her theory now; Potter certainly didn't look as if he had been plotting mischief. There was none of the usual spark that he exhibited daily, the swagger of his walk had disappeared, and he just generally looked... humble?

Not the right word – Lily couldn't bring herself to describe the Potter boy as _humble_; but nevertheless, he was missing his usual arrogance.

Lily wondered whether their tiff had had an impact on James' behaviour, and started to feel a little guilty; maybe she had been a little harsh.

She didn't see why he would be acting so solemnly though – things like this happened often enough, following the usual pattern of: Potter is a jerk, Lily rejects Potter, Potter persists, Lily insults Potter. After all, it had never had an impact on him before.

She dismissed the idea almost immediately. It was ridiculous, she was just imagining things. He was probably just thinking out Quidditch moves or something stupid. It wasn't about _her_. Lily chastised herself for being so self-centred.

When Potter finally sat down next to Black; the Slytherins still giggling childishly at James' misfortune, the bell rang.

It was singularly the most wonderful sound Lily had ever heard.

She shoved all her equipment into her backpack hurriedly, placed her flask of potion onto the teacher's desk, and made her way towards the door quickly; trying to avoid Marlene's inquisitive stare.

She pushed her way through the crowd of people, and was finally in the cool underground corridor – such a relief after the sweltering heat of the Potions room, where the potion fumes obscured your senses and muddled your thoughts.

As she was nearly at the Entrance Hall, Lily was so lost in thought that she didn't hear a familiar voice call her name.

"Evans!"

There were heavy footsteps, and then a tap on her shoulder – which made her jump violently.

She spun around, and exhaled in relief.

"Bloody hell, James."

He looked slightly startled, but there was a slight upturn to the corners of his lips, and a distinctive sparkle returned to James Potter's eyes.

Lily realised her mistake almost immediately, and could have kicked herself.

"Potter," she corrected, cheeks red again. "What do you want, Potter?"

"You forgot your quill," he said, holding it between finger and thumb before her. He smiled as he passed it to her, brushing his hand with hers.

"...Thank you?" Lily didn't intend for her statement to be intonated as a question, and she cringed as she heard her unsure tone.

"No problem," James said, not moving despite the students moving around them towards the Great Hall for lunch.

They stood there for a few seconds, as if frozen in time, and Lily realised that James' eyes were not a muddy brown, as she had always thought. They were in fact a bright hazel; the green and gold specks somehow blending in with the brown perfectly.

"I'd better... err... go," Lily said awkwardly, as she broke her gaze and moved past him with the flow of hungry students.

As she sat at the Gryffindor table, at the opposite end to Potter, Lily wasn't quite sure what to make of the encounter.

Lily supposed she could have imagined his voice as she walked away, what with the chattering of the crowd and her potion-fume-fuddled brain... but somehow she was certain she hadn't.

"_I'm sorry about earlier, Lily."_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yes, there is a reason for James's quiet behaviour. No, you won't find out for a while. **

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 4_

Lily made a conscious effort to not run into James Potter over the next few days. She could deal with him being an arrogant prat – she had had plenty of practise over the years. But this new James, who was considerate, and would chase her halfway around the school just to return her quill... she didn't know how to react to _that_ James Potter.

Also, Lily was starting to feel a little guilty over how she had treated him; he had only tried to apologise, after all. But that was precisely the problem; she didn't know how to react to a _nice_ James Potter. So when he'd reverted back to his usual flirty, inappropriate self, maybe she'd overreacted a little.

Not that she would ever admit that to anyone.

Now, this avoidance business was going well so far. She carefully avoided eye-contact at the Gryffindor table, she didn't look at him in class and she tried not to attract his attention. But Lily knew there was a flaw in her plan, thanks to Albus Dumbledore.

For she was Head Girl, and he was Head Boy – for some absurd reason that she still didn't understand – and the problem was that the first prefect meeting was tonight.

Which she was required to govern... with none other than James Potter.

"Lily," she felt Alice poke her with her long nails. "Wake up! We need to go to breakfast."

"I am awake," mumbled Lily tiredly. It was true; she had been in the haze between sleep and consciousness... thinking about James Potter. Again. Dammit.

"Up!" said Alice, "I'm hungry, and if you don't hurry, Channelle's going to get in the bathroom before you!"

Lily sat upright immediately, and swung her legs onto the floor. She had nothing against Channelle, but she took _forever _straightening her long brunette hair with her wand, applying her makeup and it even took her ages to get dressed – she wore so many accessories.

Alice laughed as Lily gathered up her stuff. "Ten minutes, okay? I want breakfast and Marlene is in the common room with the Marauders – trust me, leaving her with Sirius Black for a long period of time is not advisable."

Lily laughed. It was true, Marlene may be quieter than Alice, but she was far more forward when it came to boys. Seeing as Sirius was the best looking and most charismatic boy in their year, Marlene and Sirius were natural flirting partners.

"I'll be right back," Lily said, and walked into the girls bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

She quickly got changed and brushed her teeth. She didn't bother with makeup – she always managed to rub it off somehow anyway. Lily conjured a hairbrush and quickly ran it through her hair, before unlocking the bathroom door.

"That was quick!" Alice said happily, and linked arms with Lily as they walked down the stairs. Lily smiled faintly. It was a mystery to her how Alice could be so awake at this time of day.

Sure enough, when they entered the common room, Sirius and Marlene were stood slightly apart from the other Marauders. James and Remus seemed amused as they looked on, Peter envious.

"Hi guys," Alice said, dragging Lily along to the boys, against her will.

"Hello, Alice," Remus smiled.

Potter didn't look at Alice – which Lily thought was rather rude, instead looking at her.

"Morning, Evans," Ja... Potter said, one corner of his mouth tilting into his signature crooked smile. He continued looking at her, into her eyes, and raised his hand halfway to his hair, but dropped it again. Lily realised that she had been staring straight back – noting his every move, and felt a rush of blood to her face.

Damn redhead genes.

"Er... good morning, Potter."

Lily used her Head Girl voice – the voice that she hoped expressed authority with just the right amount of confidence.

Peter giggled immaturely. Lily noticed that Marlene and Sirius had joined them. Sirius opened his mouth – no doubt about to make a comment, but Remus shot him a look, and he closed it again.

Come to think of it, Lily always had liked Remus.

Evidently, her Head Girl voice hadn't worked as well as she'd hoped. Lily felt the blood flow to her face increase in intensity.

"Come on Lily, Marlene," Alice said hurriedly, seeing the familiar blush on Lily's cheeks, "I'm starving."

Lily reminded herself to thank Alice later. They walked, Alice and Marlene striking up a conversation on the way out of the common room.

Lily couldn't help but look back at the Marauders as she left the room. Peter and Sirius were nudging each other, and laughing. Remus was rolling his eyes at them. Potter was still looking at her, but for some reason, Lily didn't mind as much as she usually did.

X

The day seemed to pass absurdly quickly. Transfiguration first; the class were required to transfigure each other into animals and back. Alice didn't take this class, having opted for Muggle Studies instead, so Lily and Marlene were partners. It wasn't too difficult; Lily had studied the theory thoroughly over the summer. She changed Marlene into a black otter, and Marlene transfigured her into a horse – which Lily was trying not to take offense to, reminded unavoidably of her sister.

James and Sirius were at the back of the class. Remus had claimed he felt unwell at the start of the lesson, which McGonagall had readily accepted, and had dismissed him from the class. Lily supposed it was because he was such a good student – she couldn't see James and Sirius getting out of here so easily.

It seemed as though the two boys were having fun – not that Lily was paying too much attention. They had picked up the transfiguration with such astonishing speed that even McGonagall had granted them a rare smile. James was transfigured into a stag, Sirius a great black dog. Lily had to hand it to them; it was extraordinary magic.

The rest of the day went by just as quickly, and suddenly school hours were over, and it was time for dinner.

Seven years on, Lily still couldn't comprehend the amount of food provided in the Great Hall. She, Marlene and Alice happily tucked in to different meals; Lily helped herself to roast chicken, potatoes and peas; avoiding the broccoli with great satisfaction. She always had hated that awful stuff.

"So, what was that with James Potter this morning, Lily?" Alice asked, in the singsong voice that friends use when they already know the answer.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily said, in a voice that she hoped was level and calm. She took great care with cutting up her roast potato.

"Mmmhmm," Alice said, grinning, "You should tell us, you know, we're your best friends. And I covered up for you this morning!"

"Yeah, Lily," Marlene said, "It's okay to have a crush!"

Lily's mouth fell open in utter betrayal.

"_WHAT_? I do _not_ have a crush on James Potter. How could you even think that?"

Marlene and Alice exchanged knowing glances, and Lily violently stabbed a potato with her fork.

Lily had to leave for the prefect meeting as soon as the feast finished. She couldn't help noticing that Potter wasn't at dinner, and wondered if she would have to run the meeting on her own. It wouldn't surprise her, she thought, as she made her way to McGonagall's classroom where the prefect meetings were held.

She looked at her watch – she was ten minutes early. That was good; it meant she had time to prepare. She had already sorted out the rotas, so she could lay them out and duplicate them so that each Prefect had a copy.

Lily was still dreaming when she opened the door to the Transfiguration Classroom.

"Hey, Evans."

Lily jumped and turned to face none other than James Potter.

"I've brought the rotas," they said simultaneously.

Lily stared. James Potter... organising rotas? Was she dreaming?

"Er," James said, "we can use yours, I'm sure they're much better organised." He looked down at his neat sheaf of parchment. It might have been her imagination, but Lily could have sworn that Potter was blushing.

"No, no," Lily said, walking over to look at them. "Yours look fine. We'll use them."

James looked gratified, and a corner of his mouth pulled upwards, just as it had this morning.

"Thanks," he said.

"It's fine." She didn't want to let her work go to waste, but she felt that these new responsible traits in the Head Boy ought to be encouraged.

The meeting went surprisingly smoothly. Lily had expected some difficulty with between the seventh year Slytherin Prefect and the Head Boy, but James was entirely professional. Maybe he had grown up a little; a few years ago James wouldn't have missed such a great opportunity to torment Severus Snape.

Snape had avoided eye contact with both of the Head pupils throughout the meeting, Lily had noticed. It was strange; the eyes which had once been filled with laughter and life looked empty now. Lily supposed that was what the Dark Arts did to you.

Eventually, the prefects filed out, one by one. Remus was the last to leave, but James muttered to him that he'd catch up. Remus nodded, and Lily and James continued to clean up McGonagall's classroom, not wanting to be murdered by their head of house for leaving the room in a mess. They were both in good moods, the prefects seemed to get along well – there wasn't even that much rivalry between the Gryffindors and Slytherins.

"Hogsmeade next weekend, Evans?"

"Don't bother, Potter," Lily said easily. James laughed.

"Worth a try," he smiled.

"Not in your wildest dreams."

They repeated the old, familiar banter, but somehow it didn't quite seem the same. In fact, when they were walking to the Gryffindor common room together, discussing the difficult Transfiguration homework McGonagall had set, the Head Boy didn't even feel like Potter anymore.

He felt like James.

**A/N: I updated as soon as I could – thank you so much for your lovely reviews, they mean a lot. **

**Let me know what you think,**

**Abi **

**xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 5_

It was turning colder as the October weather set in.

Lily had never truly appreciated how difficult NEWTs were. She was spending the majority of her time in the library and in Slughorn's classroom, practising potions.

The time that she wasn't studying, she was sleeping or patrolling.

It turned out that James had ever so conveniently planned so that their patrols were always together. When questioned about it, James had said ever so innocently: "Would you rather be patrolling with a Slytherin, my dear Evans?"

She had pretended to consider it.

"Be careful, Evans, you're at Sirius risk of bruising my ego. Hahaha Sirius... get it?"

James laughed loudly at his own joke, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Your ego needs bruising," she said, but she couldn't help grinning a little herself. She didn't really mean it anymore; she and James had developed a working relationship... a friendship, almost.

"Watch it, Evans."

"Make me, Potter."

Lily blushed red, and was suddenly immensely grateful for the bad lighting in these parts of the dungeons. She hadn't meant it to come out that way.

Potter just laughed. "Really, Lily. Don't tempt me."

Lily. That was new.

They continued to walk down the dingy Potions corridor, James still chucking lightly. He suddenly grabbed her arm; there was someone down the end of the corridor – they could hear shuffling and whispering. Lily looked up at James, whose gaze was already upon her. They exchanged a glance, and nodded – not needing words to communicate, before continuing to walk quietly down the corridor.

"_Lumos!_" James muttered. The light from the end of his wand filled the narrow corridor, so that the four Slytherins a few metres ahead were entirely visible. Avery, Black, Mulciber and Snape.

"What are you four doing here?" James asked, in a 'Head Boy voice' that Lily hadn't known he'd possessed. Everything about James Potter was surprising her these days.

"Good question," sneered Avery, "Why are you and the mudblood down here, Potter?"

Lily flinched, and she couldn't help noticing that Snape did too, from his position stood slightly behind Avery.

James' eyes narrowed, and he moved so that his wand was pointed directly at Avery.

"Repeat that. I dare you."

Lily tried to push his arm down, to no avail; it was rock solid. All of that Quidditch practise had come to some use, after all.

"James! You're Head Boy!" she warned, too quietly for the Slytherins to hear. James snorted, and held his aim.

"Now tell me, Avery. What did you say?"

Avery was pointing his own wand, but his friends weren't. Both he and James knew that the latter was by far the superior wizard when it came to spellwork. So he stayed silent, and James begun his questioning again.

"Why are you down here?"

All four of the Slytherins stayed silent.

"Snape. You're a prefect. Why are you here?"

"I don't answer to you, Potter," he hissed.

"On the contrary," James pointed to his badge with a cocky grin, "I think you'll find that you do."

Lily rolled her eyes. Obviously she was wrong in the assumption that he had changed completely.

As soon as Snape pulled his wand out, she spoke up. Things could only get worse from here. "That's enough," she said, as Snape and James squared up to each other. "Bed. Now."

It looked as if the Slytherins were debating whether to obey orders from _the mudblood_. Avery eventually looked at Snape – who nodded, and the four walked off, being sure to shoot dark glares at both of the Head Students as they went.

James muttered something very rude, and Lily punched his arm.

"Ow!" James said, looking wounded. "What did I do?"

"You're such an arse, way to handle things professionally!"

"They're bloody Slytherins, Evans! You can't treat them nicely, or they'll just take advantage! What do you want me to do, make friends with one?" James asked.

Lily bit her lip and looked away.

James realised his mistake almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "Err... sorry. I didn't mean you and Sniv... Snape. Err. Yes, you're right, I'm an arse. Can we move on?"

Lily found it rather amusing to see Potter lose his cool; she just about managed to conceal her smile, and forced the long ago memories out of her mind.

"Yes, I suppose you're forgiven..." she said, as James pulled out a seemingly blank sheet of parchment, and tapped it with his wand, muttering words too quietly for Lily to hear. "... what are you doing?"

"Just checking the scumbags made it to their common room," he replied.

Lily moved round to watch over his shoulder.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" Lily asked.

"Old friends of mine," James replied with a wry smile. Lily didn't bother to get him to explain, since it was evident that he wouldn't.

"That is incredible magic," sighed Lily, as the map materialized, most of the little black dots in the dormitories.

"Well, I am incredible. Right, Evans?"

Lily stared. "You made this?"

James nodded, as he scanned the map for the Slytherins.

"On your own?"

James frowned slightly, and shook his head.

"I shouldn't have got this out in front of you, really. It was necessary though, I want to see what those gits are up to."

Lily remained silent as he found the four dots, and followed them up to the Slytherin common room.

"Who would have thought," James said, tapping the map again and shoving it back in his pocket. "They actually did what they were told for once. Well done, Evans."

Lily glanced down at her watch. It was gone midnight, so they had been studying the map for more than ten minutes.

"Come on," Lily said, "Our shift has finished, let's go to bed."

"Together?"

Lily glared at him.

"Don't be an arse, Potter."

"Old habits die hard," he grinned, as they walked up the stairs to the Entrance Hall.

"Evidently," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

><p>Lily didn't sleep peacefully that night, despite her long day. She dreamt of Death Eaters running around the castle, capturing her friends, capturing the Marauders... James.<p>

She was the only one left – she had to fight.

Lily turned, firing spells at dark figures that were forming a ring around her, but none of them fell, not one. She looked down at her wand hand, only to find that it was empty. She scrambled on the floor looking for it, and dug in her pockets, but it was no good. It wasn't there.

"Mudblood! Mudblood!" The crowd chanted, as a tall figure came towards her. The last things she heard were two desperate male screams as the green light flashed in her face, and everything went black.

* * *

><p>"Lily! Wake up!"<p>

Lily awoke with a jolt, relieved to open her eyes to the light of the girls' dormitory. She groaned, and flopped back down onto her pillow, Marlene and Alice's concerned faces looming above her.

"You were screaming, Lily..." Marlene said, looking worried.

"Just a dream," Lily said. "Thank Merlin."

She turned onto her side to go back to sleep, but her friends didn't leave her bedside.

"What?" she said, "I'm fine."

Alice giggled. "Lily, I hate to break it to you, it's Friday morning... which means Double Potions!"

Lily groaned again. As much as she liked Potions, she _really_ wanted to stay in bed.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, Lily was out of the bathroom, having been dragged out of bed by Marlene and Alice. The three girls walked somewhat sluggishly down the stairs to the common room, where they joined the general stampede of Gryffindor Students making their way to breakfast. James and Sirius were skipping along the corridors arm-in-arm, for some bizarre reason, and the other two Marauders were following behind. Remus was looking half embarrassed, half amused at his friends' antics, and Peter was staring in awe, wondering if he should join in.<p>

Lily rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling a little. It did look as if he was having fun.

The Gryffindor seventh years ate breakfast wearily, as was custom on Friday mornings, and then all sloped off to their separate classes. Lily, Marlene and Alice walked to Potions, James and Sirius slightly ahead of them. The two Marauders weren't skipping anymore, Lily noticed, as they walked down the stairs to the dungeons.

Alice and Marlene were chatting about the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin, but Lily wasn't paying much attention. She wondered how James was getting on with the training of the new team. They'd lost the seeker, a chaser, and a beater when the year above them had left, and James had been telling her during patrol how they weren't shaping up in the way he'd hoped.

Lily was still deep in thought when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Lily, can I speak to you. Please."

Lily thought about turning away, but there was a pleading tone in Severus' voice, and there were none of his little Slytherin friends around.

She could see Marlene on the brink of protest as she nodded curtly at Severus.

"It's okay," she said. "I'll meet you in Potions."

The two girls walked away, but they didn't look away from her as they joined James and Sirius. Lily noticed James look around, and then looked startled as Alice said something to him. He turned around and locked eyes with Lily. It seemed as if he was going to walk back down the corridor towards her, but Sirius took his arm, muttering something, and James unwillingly allowed himself to be dragged away.

He didn't once look away from Lily until he was out of sight.

Lily sighed, and turned her gaze back on Severus.

"What do you want," she said shortly.

He was staring at her strangely; his pitch black eyes boring deep into her green ones intensely.

"Lily, are you in love with Potter?"

"In love with _Potter_? What would make you think that? He's my fellow head-student, that's all. Our relationship is entirely professional. Not that it's any of your business," she added hurriedly, as if she had forgotten who she had been speaking to.

"But..." he started. He was looking at her again, with that strange, brooding expression that Lily couldn't quite place. "Lily I..." He paused again and closed his eyes, his brow creasing. "I'm sorry to have bothered you." And with that, Lily's ex-best friend walked away towards Potions, without looking back once.

* * *

><p>"Coward," Severus muttered to himself.<p>

He could see in her eyes that even Lily herself didn't believe what she was saying. She was most definitely in love with James Potter. Severus didn't know how it had happened, neither did he know when she would come to realise it, but inevitably she would.

And there was no way that Severus could confess his attractions to his childhood friend, knowing that his feelings were not reciprocated.

He walked past the potions classroom, and continued on to the empty common room. He sat down on one of the hard armchairs, and rolled up his left robe sleeve.

The black Dark Mark was clearer than ever, burnt into his skin.

He closed his eyes, as if that would make the sight disappear from his memory, and thought about Lily. The way her laugh sounded in the open air, how her long red hair rippled in the wind, her eyes sparkling every time she learnt something new.

She wasn't his anymore. He had taken the wrong path, and now Lily was in love with someone else. He just had to accept that. Potter would keep her safe, and he would do all he could.

Severus Snape buried his face in his hands, tears that would never fall gathering in his black eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A pretty quick update, I think! I've got something coming up in this story that I really want to get written, so that spurred me on a bit, along with your reviews! They do really make me want to write, so thank you for that, lovely reviewers :)**

**Please leave some feedback, it's always appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 6_

It seemed that drama always occurred before Potions, Lily reflected as she walked down the Potions corridor.

She was puzzled – that was the only way she could explain it. Severus had seemed on the brink of telling her something – she doubted she'd ever find out what it was now.

She opened the door to the Potions classroom, and was just about to apologise to Professor Slughorn, but he wasn't in the room.

James stood up immediately, relief flooding his face.

"Are you okay?" He asked, walking towards her.

"I'm fine."

"He didn't hurt you?" He looked at her analytically, as if looking for visible bruises or cuts.

"He wouldn't... he didn't hurt me. I'm fine – like I said."

Lily noticed the silence of the classroom, all eyes on Head Pupils. She also noticed how close together they were standing.

She took a deliberate step back, cheeks flaming, and she could tell that James was trying to withhold a laugh - the corners of his mouth twitched and his hazel eyes sparkled.

Lily bit her lip, trying not to grin, and retreated from the middle of the classroom to her seat next to Marlene.

"And _what_ was that all about?" She demanded.

"What?" Lily said absently, still looking at James.

"Snap out of it, Lily Evans! What did Snape want? And where is he?"

Lily jumped, and turned back round to face Marlene.

"He err..." she didn't want to repeat what he _had_ said; James was only sat a few desks away, and anyway, she didn't want to give Marlene and Alice ideas. "He didn't really say what wanted, it was quite strange, actually. So, has he not been in here? He walked before me so I assumed..."

"No," Marlene replied, giving her the 'I know you're lying' look, "He hasn't been in here."

Lily nodded, and turned her attention to Professor Slughorn, who had just entered the room.

She could still feel Marlene's stare on her.

* * *

><p>It was funny how quickly the days passed when she was at Hogwarts.<p>

Weeks passed in a blur of lessons, revision and patrol.

The lessons were challenging, the revision mind numbingly boring... but the Head Girl patrols... they weren't so bad.

And Lily knew that she'd have never admitted this a month ago, but the reason they weren't so bad was, well, thanks to James Potter.

She didn't know when it had happened, nor why, but all of a sudden she held an affection for Potter that she didn't have before. He was a good friend, and he made her laugh. He was loyal and brave and interesting... he wasn't such a bad person as she'd previously perceived him to be.

She wouldn't admit that to her best friends though; Alice and Marlene were already certain that the two of them were about to have a legendary whirlwind romance.

In fact, Lily suspected that Alice was already planning their wedding.

Lily woke up that morning to a gale outside her dormitory window. She groaned as she looked out the window; the rain was streaming down, hammering against the glass. Judging by the heavy black clouds it wouldn't cease anytime soon.

She wouldn't normally mind – in fact, Lily quite liked storms – but today was the day of the Gryffindor vs Slytherin Quidditch match.

And sitting in the stands today would not be fun.

She dressed, and walked down to the common room – where the majority of her house was already gathered – looking far more awake than they usually did on school days.

The Seventh Year Gryffindors walked down to the Great Hall in high spirits. James was in his element – as the Quidditch Captain, people were smacking him on the back and wishing him luck, and Lily couldn't help noticing that the absolute confidence that she'd once found so irritating didn't affect her so much anymore.

"You're staring at James again, Lily..." Alice sang, as she appeared out of nowhere at her left side.

"I... no I wasn't," she denied quickly, glancing over at him again to see if he'd heard Alice's comment. He hadn't – he was laughing with Sirius, messing up his hair again. Lily let out a little smile as she rolled her eyes.

"You were!" Marlene said in the same sing-song tone as Alice, appearing at her right.

"I was not!"

"Were too!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

This childish charade continued until they reached the Entrance Hall, laughing loudly.

The Slytherins hissed when the Gryffindors entered the hall; it was only tradition, after all.

Sirius, in response, growled like a lion – which amused even the teachers sat at the high table.

As they sat down, the Slytherins shouted taunts across to the Gryffindor players, mainly aimed at James and Sirius, who were, of course the obvious nemeses.

"Good luck, Potter! You'll need it!"

"Break a leg, Black. Or another break another limb, we're not fussy!"

"Posh brooms don't make a good player, Potter!"

On the whole the team ignored them. James rolled his eyes at the last one, looking at Lily, who laughed loudly.

"You're inflicting me, Evans!" he moaned, taking an enormous bite out of his toast.

Lily shrugged, "what can I say. It's nice to know I'm such an influential figure in your life, Potter."

James very nearly rolled his eyes again.

Sirius, of course, reacted in a different way to the Slytherins' taunts. On the whole, he returned the jibes with sharp words and impolite hand actions, which Lily thought that she should disapprove of – as Head Girl – and reprimand him, but she let him off, laughing along with the rest of the table at the look on Avery's face.

It wasn't long before they were heading down to the pitch, the team members breaking off from the rest at the changing rooms.

"See you at the after party," said James to the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors, and there was a chorus of 'Good Luck!' and 'You show 'em, James."

He'd just waved for the last time, grinning, and turned into the narrow corridor.

She didn't know why she did it – it was an impulse that ran through her. Lily didn't usually act on impulses, but as James began to stride away, his team surrounding him, she called out.

"James!"

He turned sharply at the sound of her voice, and if he was surprised at her use of his first name, he didn't show it.

"Just... good luck," How inspiring, Lily thought to herself, really original.

But James was grinning.

"Thank you... Lily."

And then he was gone.

* * *

><p>"And Potter has the Quaffle... he's weaving in and out of those Slytherins like they're flies, good job James! And he's nearing the goalposts... and he scores! 120-70 to Gryffindor!"<p>

Lily cheered along with the rest of the crowd, but in reality she was freezing cold, and shivering, just wishing that Larks would catch the Snitch already.

Unless she was much mistaken, Marlene shared her sentiment, shivering on the bench next to her. Alice seemed to be all for the match though, waving her Gryffindor banner around as though it was the Union Jack. Maybe that enthusiasm wasn't so much for the game though, but for the beater, Frank Longbottom – who seemed to be sending Alice the odd wink every now and then.

Approximately twenty minutes later, Lily's prayers were answered, as the commentator Camilla Langheart announced: "And Gryffindor Seeker Larks is diving... has he seen the Snitch?"

The whole of the Stadium craned their necks, and sure enough, there was a golden glint not far off the ground.

"And Slytherin Seeker Avery is on her tail but is it too late? Yes! Larks catches the Snitch! Gryffindor wins!"

There was a ground rumbling cheer from the Gryffindor Stands, as five team members lowered to the ground, satisfaction etched on to every one of their faces. The other two team members, Lily noticed with a laugh, were circling the Gryffindor pitch, yelling "we did it!"

Lily grinned widely; as much as she was glad she could go indoors now, she was genuinely glad that they'd won the match.

Just as the crowd began to stand up, the seventh Gryffindor team member appeared out of nowhere, heading straight for the Gryffindor stands... heading straight for Lily.

He stopped just short of her, grinning at her panic.

"Alright, Evans?" he grinned.

"You imbecile, Potter! You could have killed me!"

He pretended to look offended. "On the contrary, Miss Evans, I think you'll find that I have fine control of this broom."

Lily snorted.

"Anyway," he continued, "care to accompany me to the after-party?"

Before she could speak, he added, "as _friends_, of course."

"I –" Lily said, a little flustered. "Oh fine. Okay."

"You will?" He said, beaming.

"I suppose so," she grinned at the oddness of it all.

"Hop on, then, Evans!" he said, indicating to his broomstick.

"No chance," she replied, glad that there was still a little of her sanity remaining. "I'm walking."

"Okay," James replied, and hopped off his expensive broom with a smile. "Then I'm walking too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I am so sorry this took so long. What with Christmas, work and revision for my upcoming exams, things have been a little hectic.**

**Happy New Year to you all, I hope it'll be a great year for you.**

**Feedback is always appreciated :)**


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way._

_Chapter 7_

Lily could feel the stares of Alice and Marlene on her as she left the stands with Potter at her side.  
>She turned to wave at them, smiling sheepishly, and Alice returned it, laughing. Marlene was smirking.<br>It looked like she'd have some explaining to do later.  
>She and James walked to the castle in high spirits, Gryffindors appearing out of nowhere to congratulate James on his performance.<p>

"Quite the celebrity," Lily muttered.  
>James grinned, "People just love me, what can I say?" he adopted an affected tone that he surely knew would irritate Lily the most.<br>"Oh shut up," she said, shoving him.  
>James laughed, and Lily turned away, trying to keep a straight face as she watched the clouds clear. Great timing, she thought sarcastically.<p>

"Er, Lily..." James said, nudging her.

Lily ignored him, as she did when he irritated her.

"Lily," he said a little more urgently, and then she got what he was saying... there was a figure coming towards them at high speed.

"Oh, _shit_!" she said.

Black was heading straight towards them at eighty miles per hour, grinning wildly.

James pulled Lily behind him, just as Sirius landed a few feet in front of them, and jumped off his broom.

"You idiot, Sirius! You could have killed us!" James said, sounding oddly reminiscent of Lily only a few minutes ago.  
>Lily smirked at him as she stepped back to his side, and he grinned guiltily.<br>They started to walk again, Sirius hovering on his broom beside them. "Wait," he said, looking between the two of them, "she said yes?"

"Evidently," Lily said sharply.  
>"Woah," Sirius exclaimed. "Is the world ending?"<br>"As _friends_," James said, emphasising the last word.  
>Sirius snorted. "Okay Prongs, whatever you say."<br>"Shut up, Black," Lily said shortly.  
>Sirius looked at her, offended.<br>"You know, I could withdraw my blessing of this..." he was pointing between them now, "and then where would you be?"  
>Lily rolled her eyes, and apparently James did too, as Sirius pointed at him accusingly.<br>"Ha! You're even picking up her mannerisms!"  
>Sirius suddenly took off, and flew away to the castle, still laughing manically.<br>"You know," Lily said, watching him. "It might be an idea to get him checked out."  
>"Ha ha," James said, and Lily smiled.<p>

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before they were up in the common room, the party in full swing.<p>

Everyone had gone upstairs to get changed, before returning back down to the common room to party. Lily had gone up to her dormitory with the other girls, and stared at her wardrobe hopelessly. It was full with thick jumpers, robes and jeans... not party clothes. Well, she had a set of dress robes, but they were far too formal. After deliberating for a few minutes, whilst Alice hurried her and Marlene quizzed her about the relationship she had with James, she picked out the light blue blouse her mother had bought her for her 16th birthday with white high waisted shorts. The outfit was entirely inappropriate for the weather of course, but hey, it was inside, and she wanted to look nice.

The Marauders, Frank, Lily, Marlene and Alice had formed a casual group once downstairs, monopolising the armchairs near the enormous piles of food which James and Sirius had charmed off the house elves.

"We collected it," Sirius said, stuffing a Pumpkin Pasty into his mouth whole. "So it's only fair that we get to eat it." He choked on his last word, and Remus thumped him on the back.

"Whatever eases your conscience, Padfoot."

Peter laughed nervously, but stopped when the other three Marauders turned to look at him, Sirius still coughing up a bit of Pumpkin Pasty.

Lily felt a little sorry for Peter; he was so socially incompetent, and the way that he hung on to James and Sirius was pitiful, really.

But she had to admit that as much as she tried to be kind to him, she couldn't bring herself to completely like the boy; for he wasn't brave like James, funny like Sirius or kind like Remus. He simply tried and failed to imitate all three of these qualities. Lily wasn't sure what _Peter_ was like inside: not Peter copying Sirius, or imitating James... just Peter.

And that was a little unnerving.

Perching on the arm of Marlene's chair, Lily nudged her friend, grinning as she looked on to the dance floor.

Alice and Frank were slow dancing amongst the other teenagers jumping around to the fast song. They looked out of place, and kept getting bumped around, but it was sweet. Frank's arms were around her waist, hands at her back, and Alice's hands were round his neck.

She looked elated, staring into his eyes unblinkingly, a wide smile stretching across her face.

Lily smiled at the oblivious couple, and turned around to see James and Sirius fighting over the last chocolate frog.  
>Lily rolled her eyes. They were like first years, honestly. As an idea occurred to her, she grinned and grabbed her wand from the pocket of her shorts.<p>

'Accio,' she thought in her head, pointing her wand at the still packaged frog. Sure enough, it zoomed into her hand, and she stuffed it into her pocket.

"Hey!" James and Sirius complained simultaneously, as Lily shoved her wand back in to her pocket, a smug expression on her face.  
>"Well if you can't play nicely..." she said.<p>

They both glared at her, and Marlene laughed.

"How'd you fit all that into your pocket anyway, Lils?" Marlene asked, nodding towards the seemingly shallow pocket in her shorts.

"Undetectable extension charm," she replied, looking over to the dance floor where the teenagers were dancing to one of her favourite songs. "Let's leave these boys to their food and go dance!"  
>"What's left of it!" Sirius yelled indignantly.<br>Rolling her eyes and laughing, Marlene allowed herself to be pulled from her chair and onto the dancefloor, where they jumped around - no-one danced properly at parties, this was more fun.

She and Marlene had a great time – they danced around and managed to steal Alice back when Frank left to get the drinks. The three girls span around mindlessly, laughing at nothing, and Lily felt properly de-stressed for the first time in a while. The N.E.W.T's were getting to her more than she realised.

Lily looked over at the boys every now and then. James and Sirius were laughing and hi-fiving, and Remus had a half-smile on his face, the pull between his eyebrows suggesting they were plotting something he didn't like the sound of.

Oh well, thought Lily, it's a party, let it go for once.

She still kept an eye on them, though, so she noticed when James rose from his seat, and walked towards where she was dancing – the term used loosely – with Alice and Marlene.

"Good evening, ladies," he said in that charming way that she should despise... but didn't.

Lily mumbled back her greeting, somewhat surprised to find herself lost for words. He did look good tonight, hair messier than ever, dressed in a plain black t-shirt and grey jeans that he somehow managed to make look original... he was close... she could smell his aftershave.

Snap out of it, Lily!

She chastised herself, horrified. She was beginning to sound like one of Potter's fangirls.

One corner of his mouth pulled up, as though he could tell what she was thinking.

"Mind if I cut in?" he asked smoothly, looking at Lily.

Before waiting for an answer, he grabbed the red-faced Lily's hand, and led her to a less crowded part of the common room.

Just in time for a slow song to start playing.

Merlin, what had she gotten herself into?

Before she knew what was happening, his hands were at her waist, and they were slowly stepping in time to the music.

It wasn't as awkward as she'd expected, they talked as friends, about the whiny sixth year female Ravenclaw prefect, about N.E.W.T's, and about Quidditch. He was surprised to find that Lily actually knew a lot more about the game than she let on – she'd studied the theory for years, it was fascinating, she explained, but she just didn't like being _on_ a broom.

The song changed, but they continued to dance, James spinning her round every now and then, and she found that she was actually having a really nice time.

They were getting closer together now, Lily had finally found the courage to put his hands up on his shoulders, and he was getting closer to her, grinning.

She didn't know what was happening, but for some reason, she sure as hell did _not_ want it to stop.

He moved his arms around her, and pulled her to him in a bear hug, as the second song ended.

She sighed a little. She wasn't sure if it was from relief, which would be the obvious reason... or something else.

As they pulled away, she noticed something in his hand.

"What is that?" she said. She had a sneaking suspicion.

He grinned cheekily and a little guiltily as he opened his hand for her to see.

The chocolate frog rested in the middle of his palm, a little melted from her pocket.

How on Earth had he gotten that without her noticing?

"Ahh, so this is why you wanted to dance," she said, sliding her own hand into the pocket.

"No... just a bonus, you might say," he grinned.

"You had a bet with Sirius, didn't you?" she tried to hide her smile.

The way he bit his lip as he grinned told her all she needed to know.

She pulled out her wand.

"_Evenesco_!" she said, pointing it at the chocolate frog before he had a chance to react.

"_Lily_!" he moaned as the frog disappeared, and she laughed.

"Come on," she said, walking in the direction of the food table, "I've got a few words to have with Sirius Black."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I cannot emphasise enough how fun the end of that chapter was to write! **

**I'm trying my best with the speed of the updates at the moment, but I'm spending a lot of time on studying. Once February comes, I promise there will be lots of updates!**

**Thank you so much for your reviews, they mean a lot to me. Especially a few of you who review every chapter!**

**Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)**

**Abi **

**xx**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 8_

Sirius was sufficiently scared of her now, Lily noted, satisfied.

Or, at least, the Sirius Black kind of scared. As in he winced a little as she lectured him about getting his best mate to practically grope her, and he only came up with one retort: "It didn't look like you minded, Lily-petal."

Git.

Somehow, she'd managed to sleep through the whole of Saturday morning, and woke up at midday, the sun high in the sky.

She must have been tired; Lily thought to herself, she'd managed to out-sleep every girl in her dormitory. Including Channelle. Who had been nicknamed 'The Sloth'.

Lily wondered whether she'd earned a similar nickname.

She grabbed her toiletries and headed for the bathroom, thinking about the previous night. She didn't really know what to think, although she was pretty sure that someone had mixed Firewhiskey in with her Butterbeer.

Sirius, probably.

But nevertheless, she was fully aware of what she was doing when she allowed James to dance with her, to hug her... James Potter – the boy that she'd not so long ago openly despised.

A lot of things had changed recently.

The strange thing was that she didn't regret it at all. Lily Evans – the super-organised, top-of-the-class Head Girl, had had fun last night. She'd acted with some sort of spontaneity that she hadn't been aware she was capable of, but she was glad that she'd danced with James; that she'd loosened up somewhat and shown him that she wasn't such a robot after all.

At least, that was the theory behind it.

The sharp reality of the situation hit her as soon as she entered the Great Hall for lunch. Marlene smirked widely, eyes twinkling, and Alice smiled, gesturing to the space beside her.

Or more specifically, the space between her, and the Head Boy.

Oh Merlin.

Lily tried to keep a composed expression despite the inevitable flow of blood to her face.

"Hi, guys," she said brightly, avoiding James' gaze. She noted that Peter, Remus and Sirius were sat opposite. Apparently the casual group from last night hadn't disbanded yet.

There was a chorus of suspiciously simultaneous "Good afternoon, Lily," and they all burst into laughter.

Lily rolled her eyes, and smiled a little.

She grabbed a sandwich from the plate and poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice, ignoring the looks she was getting from other girls at the Gryffindor table.

Some of them looked envious, almost.

"Bit of a hangover, Lily-stem?" Sirius asked innocently.

Too innocently.

"You slipped something into my drink, didn't you, Sirius?" she said sweetly, fingers closing around the wand in her pocket. Not that she'd use it on him.

Well... it depended on his response.

"Sure did, Lily-bloom," he replied easily. "How else would we get that chocolate frog back? There's no chance you'd dance with Prongs sober!"

No-one laughed this time but Sirius, and he quietened down when he saw the blush stain Lily's cheeks, and how she lowered her gaze to the table.

"Too much?" he asked Remus in a stage whisper.

Remus responded by whacking him on the back of the head, ignoring Sirius' noises of protest.

It was then that Lily realised James hadn't spoken a word since she'd entered the hall.

His cheeks were stained just as red as she was sure hers were, and he too was avoiding eye contact with any of them.

The words were out of her mouth before she could consider the implications.

"Oh yeah, Black? Well how would you know what I would do sober, seeing as you _spiked my drink_," she glared at him, "Why shouldn't I dance with James? What's wrong with dancing with one of my best friends?" She held his gaze for a moment, and when Sirius had the sense to break it, she stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, without once looking back at the now silent Gryffindor Table.

She didn't know when she started crying, and she certainly didn't know why. The tears blurred her vision as she ran up to the seventh floor.

Was it because Sirius had confirmed he'd spiked her drink? The teasing she was sure to receive about her drunken antics? Worried she'd made a fool out of herself?

She refused to acknowledge the memory of James' flushed cheeks as he carefully avoided eye contact with her. Did he regret dancing with her? Felt embarrassed? Ashamed, even? Was it true he'd only danced with her to get the damn frog?

Lily pushed people out of her way, which she was aware wasn't exemplary behaviour from the Head Girl. She didn't want people to see the tears that she was blinking away. She kept her head down, and moved as quickly as she could up the staircases, her long red hair swinging around her face.

She was faintly aware of someone calling her name, but she didn't risk turning around.

Gossip always did travel quickly at Hogwarts.

"Mandrake root," Lily muttered to the Fat Lady, when she reached the portrait.

She pushed through as soon as it swung open, and stepped into the common room. Thank Merlin it was lunchtime; there were only a couple of first years chatting in the armchairs by the fire, and three harassed-looking fifth years studying in the corner of the room. Nevertheless, all five of the room's occupants turned to look at the Head Girl as she strode towards the stairs to the Girls Dormitories, praying that she'd be able to maintain her composure until she reached her dorm.

Once she was out of the view of the younger students, Lily allowed herself to break down a little. Why was she reacting this violently, she didn't know. Perhaps it was the aftermath of the alcohol she'd unknowingly consumed the previous night, or maybe her emotions were just messed up.

Probably the latter.

She groaned as she landed on her bed, and stared up at her ceiling.

What would her friends think of her little outburst? Was it justified? Sirius had been a prick, after all. But she'd been overly defensive, to say the least. And she'd called James a best friend.

Lily cringed. She'd probably embarrassed him even more than he already had been.

"Lily?"

Oh Merlin.

"Lily, are you up there?"

It was a horribly familiar voice that called her name, and it belonged to the one she wanted to talk to least.

Fantastic.

"Lily!"

He was horribly persistent.

_Continue with the plan Lily, pretend you're not here..._

"Lily Evans! If you don't come down this instant, I'm coming up there!"

Lily snorted. She'd like to see him try. Surely he knew about the enchantments on the stairs...

She stayed silent for a few minutes, until she was almost certain he'd gone. Lily lightly padded across the room and out into the corridor. She peeked down the stairs and...

James Potter was stood at the bottom.

Damn.

"Hi there, Evans," James said easily, "Nice of you to join me."

She sighed, but couldn't help the way the corner of her mouth pulled up a little. "What do you want, James?"

"Well, I want you to come down here, to start with."

She rolled her eyes but obliged, hoping that it wasn't obvious she'd been crying.

"Now what?" she asked, standing on the bottom step. James was leaning against the wall opposite her, barely two metres away.

"Well..." his eyes roamed over her body in an entirely inappropriate manner, which resulted in Lily punching him.

James laughed, his eyes returning to her face. "I wanted to apologise for Sirius."

"This seems familiar," Lily commented, earning a chuckle from James.

"It does, doesn't it? Hopefully you won't wound my ego as badly this time round."

"Can't make any promises," Lily said, smiling a little, although she couldn't help feeling a pinch of guilt at how she'd reacted last time.

"I'll take my chances," he replied, eyes sparkling. "Anyway, Sirius is a git. Of that I'm sure you were aware. And I already know you'd have danced with me, sober _or_ a little tipsy; you can't ignore my dashing good looks." He ran a hand through his hair for emphasis – knowing that it irritated her, and grinned.

"...was that supposed to be an apology?" she asked. She was satisfied that he wasn't embarrassed, and that he didn't regret dancing with her. What she wasn't sure of was whether he'd only done it to get the frog, and why he'd looked so ashamed at the table earlier.

Not that she expected to find out either of these things from her question, she just wanted to see him squirm.

No such luck.

"Of course, best friend," James said, taking a few steps towards her, a mischievous look in his eyes. He linked his arm with hers in a school-girlish manner, and skipped towards the common room door, dragging her along behind him.

"And now it's time for lunch! I saved you food!"

Lily laughed despite herself, and kept up a brisk walk beside him as he skipped through the common room, leaving five confused younger students staring after their head pupils.

He skipped her down the corridor, Lily laughing at the ludicrousness of it all, before he stopped in a quiet alcove – pulling her with him by their still-linked arms.

He checked to make sure no-one was around.

"James?" she asked, curious.

He leaned closer to her, so close she could smell his aftershave. Was he going to...

James' lips hovered by her ear.

"And I didn't just dance with you for the frog, I'm sorry."

Lily's breath hitched.

"Uhh... I... that's okay," she finished lamely.

James smiled.

"You have such a way with words," he said, his hazel eyes scanning her as if he could tell exactly how erratic her thoughts were at that moment.

_Get a hold of yourself, Lily Evans. _

"And I suppose now's a good time to tell you that I can't make duty tonight?" James said, moving back a little.

Lily frowned, "It's never a good time to tell me that. Why?" it was true; she'd miss his company on patrol tonight.

"I've err... got to see a man about a dog."

"A _dog_?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Uhh, yeah."

_Okay_...

He was inspecting the wall now; Lily obviously wasn't going to get any more out of him.

Right on cue, her stomach rumbled.

"Hungry?" James asked, and suddenly his usual playful manner was back.

"Yeah," Lily admitted, ruefully remembering her half-eaten ham sandwich from an hour or two ago.

"Well let's go and get you some food then," James said cheerfully, linking arms with her again, and skipping off.

She'd never understand that boy.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm back! I am so sorry for the delay in updating, but I do have a decent excuse.**

_**This is my last year of schooling, and I had exams. **_

**So yeah, fairly self explanatory why I had to stop writing for a few weeks, as little as I wanted to (fanfiction is far more enjoyable than revision, trust me.)**

**But I'm all finished now, and am back to updating regularly! Yay! **

**Thank you all for your reviews, I really appreciate it – every single one makes me smile like a lunatic!**

**I would really appreciate your feedback on this chapter, if you have time :)**

**Okay, I'm going to wrap up this long Author's Note. **

**Thank you for your patience! **


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 9_

"_James," _Lily moaned, a stitch in her side. "Slow down!"

She tugged on his arm. "_Evans_," he moaned, "You're no fun," James said in a similarly grouchy tone.

"Oh, shut up, Potter," she said, regaining her breath as they slowed to a walk. "Not all of us spend our lives zooming around a bloody Quidditch Pitch..."

"Well it does help to develop my vastly superior stamina..." James interrupted, earning a glare from Lily.

"Self-satisfied git."

"Of course."

Lily glared at him, and he sighed and slowed down.

"Are you sure you'll be alright doing prefect duty alone tonight? You could ask one of the others to tag along with you... there might be Slytherins around..."

"I'll be fine," she interrupted. "I'm more than capable of dealing with a couple of rebellious students."

"But they're like trainee Death Eaters, Lily..."

"You don't have proof of that," she said, not wanting to believe it.

"But..."

"_James_."

"Okay fine. Just... be careful."

"I will."

He surveyed her for a moment, and nodded.

"Where are we even going?" Lily asked, changing the subject. "And you said that Sirius saved me food... how?"

"What do you mean 'how', Evans," Potter asked, ignoring the other question.

"Well," Evans replied, in the tone that one might use when explaining something to a small child; "The food disappears when the meal ends," she looked at her watch for emphasis, "And lunch has most definitely ended."

"Well," he started, mimicking her tone, "Where do you think the food goes to?"

She frowned. "I've never thought about it. Of course, it must come from somewhere... you can't conjure food out of thin air... so it must go back the same way," she took a moment longer to puzzle it out, whilst James watched in amusement. "The kitchens. There must be some kind of kitchen where the food is made, and it goes there after the meal." Lily smiled when James nodded.

"I can't believe you didn't know that," James commented with a smirk as they descended the Grand Staircase.

"Shut it, Potter. How did you find out where they are, anyway?"

"Ahh... I'm afraid I can't divulge that information."

"You're infuriating."

"I know," he replied, grinning. "If it's any consolation, you really wouldn't want to know."

"What did you _do_?"

"Let's just say it involved four seriously drunk Marauders and a house elf in a similar state."

"How old were you?"

"Thirteen."

"You're right, I don't want to know."

James grinned again. "That's what I thought."

They reached the right floor, according to James, and took a sharp left. Lily couldn't say that she was sorry to leave the incessantly noisy students on the Grand Staircase. She couldn't help noticing a few stares directed in her and James' direction... not that she could blame them: She and Potter had been at loggerheads for _years_. And their arguments had always ended up in public spaces, for some reason. To see the two of them walking around like the best of friends must be a little odd.

Lily wondered what Sev would think if he could see her now...

"Galleon for your thoughts, Evans?"

Lily started and turned towards James, who was looking thoughtfully at her.

"Nothing," she replied.

"Nothing?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought thinking of nothing was more a Slytherin pastime?"

"That's downright discriminative," Lily pointed out, although the corner of her lips twitched a little. "I was just thinking how much things have changed recently."

"Like, six months ago you wanted to claw my eyes out?"

Lily laughed, "I didn't dislike you quite that extremely..."

James smirked, "I beg to differ."

"Shut up."

"'You're a stupid, arrogant _pig_, James Potter, and I hope you jump off the Astronomy Tower!'" James mimicked in a voice far higher than Lily's.

Lily hit him.

"I did _not_ say that!"

Again, James raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Lily was disappointed to see that he didn't even flinch from her punch.

"Okay, I said the first part..." she relented.

"And you were thinking the second part," James finished.

"I was not."

"Yes, you were."

"I didn't want you to top yourself, Potter. I didn't give you that much thought."

"_Ouch_," James said with a mock-grimace, "_Harsh_, Evans."

Lily smiled.

All of a sudden, James gripped her arm, and they were brought to a stop. "Here we are," James said, looking proudly at the large portrait of a fruit bowl. He released Lily's arm, and stepped for towards the fruit bowl.

"Uhh... James," Lily said, greatly concerned for his sanity. "Are you tickling that pear?"

"Yes," he said simply, and stepped away from the painting.

* * *

><p>A few months ago, if someone had told Lily that she would be stepping through a fruit bowl portrait, which supposedly led to the kitchens; accompanied by James Potter – who happened to be Head Boy, no less, she would almost certainly have questioned their sanity.<p>

However, now that she found herself in that exact predicament, it didn't seem so insane after all. (Except the Potter-being-Head-Boy part. That was still a little surreal.)

"Welcome to the kitchens, Evans," James said, with his signature crooked grin, and a hand that rose halfway to his hair before he dropped it.

"Thanks, I guess," she laughed, taking in her surroundings. Her immediate thought was that _she'd never seen so many house-elves in one room._

"Yep," James said, following her gaze. "There are a lot of house elves here. After all, who else would be able to cook for a whole school?"

At Lily's disapproving look, he hastened to elaborate: "Oh, not that they're treated badly – not at all. Dumbledore offers them pay and holidays and everything. But they like work," he shrugged.

James would never find out what Lily's opinion was on the treatment of the Hogwarts house-elves was (well – not in the immediate future, anyway) for they were interrupted at that moment by a call of their names.

"Prongs, Evans," the voice said.

"Black," Lily replied.

Sirius Black came into full view; flanked by Remus and Peter, and followed by a rather undersized house-elf – who was beaming from ear-to-ear.

"It's about time you got here," Sirius said, flashing a grin to Lily, and a questioning look to James. The latter replied with a slight shake of his head, and Black sighed a little.

"We've got some food for you, Lily," Remus said, elbowing Sirius in the ribs – presumably for his lack of subtlety.

"Thank you, Remus," Lily replied, at the same time as Sirius' violent profanity.

The tiny house elf guided the five seventh-years towards a table in the corner of the kitchen. The table was smaller than a regular one would be, and the chairs were lower down. It was obviously designed for Elvin use; but then, Lily supposed, not many humans would spend enough time in the school kitchens to require a table.

"Thank you, Hanna," Sirius said kindly, smiling at the small elf as she bowed bashfully and backed away.

"Sweet elf," Sirius commented to Lily, "She's been the one to serve us since we discovered the kitchens. Couldn't be more different from my mother's rodent."

"Sirius," Remus scolded, "It's not Kreacher's fault..."

"No," Sirius agreed bitterly. "It's my mother's – raising him to be a pureblood elitist the way she did my brother..." Sirius looked at Lily suddenly, as if he'd only just remembered she was there.

"Sorry," he grinned half-heartedly. "You didn't come here to listen to me rant about my dysfunctional family."

"No, I didn't," she agreed, "But I don't mind." At his disbelieving look, she elaborated. "I really don't. It must be awful for you to live with people who have views so different from yours. I can't imagine..."

Sirius' eyes softened, and he looked appraisingly at Lily for a moment; his gaze flickering to James, and back to her.

_What was that all about?_

"It was," he confirmed finally. "But I don't have to anymore – thanks to Prongs here."

Lily turned to look at James. "You live together?"

"In my parents' house," he nodded.

"I didn't know... that's – it's great," she finished lamely.

"Glad you approve," James said, smiling, "He came knocking on my door at 1am, in the pouring rain..."

"It was very romantic," Sirius finished, reaching across the table for James' hand. The latter laughed, and swatted it away.

"Prick."

Sirius grinned indulgently, and turned to Lily. "On that note, I'd like to apologise for embarrassing you earlier, Evans. I – err – get a little carried away sometimes."

"_Sometimes_," Remus muttered, and Peter snorted.

Sirius directed a murderous glare to them, before looking back at Lily.

"Forgiven?" he asked.

"Forgiven," Lily smiled back at him.

"Good timing, too," Peter commented, watching the tiny house-elf walk over with a platter of butterbeer and sandwiches.

* * *

><p>Lunch with the Marauders was far more enjoyable than she'd expected. The boys kept up a continuous banter, and were sure to include Lily in the conversation with explanations of humorous anecdotes. In no time at all – it seemed, the five seventh-years bade farewell to the house elves, and were out in the Entrance Hall.<p>

"Common Room?" Peter asked, looking at the dark storm clouds that were gathering in the sky.

"Common Room," Remus and Lily answered together.

Sirius and James nodded, and they began to climb the Grand Staircase.

"Why does the Common Room have to be on the seventh floor," Peter complained, as they dodged another trick step.

"Would you rather be in the dungeons, Pete?" asked Sirius.

"No. But if we could just live in the kitchens..."

"Now there's a good idea. How about it, Prongs?"

"No, Padfoot. We are Gryffindor students – we live in Gryffindor Tower."

"But _James_... then we wouldn't have to put up with the first-years asking for autographs," Sirius grinned.

"Personally, I don't mind that," James replied, smirking.

"Autographs? You can't be serious," Lily asked incredulously.

"I am," replied Sirius solemnly. "Freaking _ow_, Prongs!" he added, rubbing the invisible print of James' fist on his shoulder.

"There's only so many times that you can get away with that joke," Remus pointed out.

"But it was for Lily's benefit!" Sirius protested, sending a withering glare to his messy-haired best mate.

James shrugged.

Lily laughed at their antics, "Autographs, though?"

"Yep," James replied, ruffling his hair. "They usually want it signed from 'The Marauders'. We're famous around here, y'know."

The only reply Lily could muster was: "No wonder your head's so inflated."

"I resent that statement," James said immediately.

"_Mandrake root_," Remus said to the Fat Lady. "You know it's true, Prongs."

"Pick your side, Moony!"

"Fight your own battles, Prongs," Remus replied before stepping through the portrait-hole, "I'm simply an observant bystander."

* * *

><p>The Marauders and Lily; later accompanied by Marlene and Alice, spent the rest of the afternoon and evening together. At the end of it, Lily wasn't really sure what they'd talked about, or why they'd laughed so hard – just that it was the most fun she'd had in ages.<p>

She was beginning to see why the four boys were so popular – not that she'd ever admit it.

Remus left at about half-eight, muttering something about having to visit his mother. The girls had given him sympathetic looks – everyone in Gryffindor had heard about Remus' ill mother. He usually went home to visit every month, so this wasn't an abnormality. The strange thing was; he looked so _guilty_. Lily hoped Remus didn't blame himself for his mother's illness, as relatives of the victim often do. He did look tired, come to think of it; that was a sign of stress...

The other Marauders had said they'd accompany him to Dumbledore's office, and they hadn't returned by the time Lily left for patrol at nine.

Maybe that's why James couldn't come tonight; the Marauders were going with Remus to visit his mother this month.

It seemed unlikely though. Surely the poor witch wouldn't want three additional teenage boys around?

It was due to pondering this, that Lily failed to notice the dim light emitting from one of the Transfiguration classrooms... until it was too late.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Cliffie! **

**Sorry for the unacceptably slow update – after my two week hiatus, it's proven difficult to settle back into my regular writing schedule... I hope this is up to standard!**

**Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed so far; it's for you guys that I bother uploading this here in the first place. **

**Anyway, thank you for your patience, the support, and the lack of complaints about updates. I really appreciate it! :)**

**Feedback is welcomed, as always. **


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way._

_Chapter 10_

"Ready, Prongs?"

"Hmm," James replied, as they walked across the grounds, Peter and Sirius on either side of him. The latter, who had voiced the question, spoke again.

"You don't think Evans suspects anything?" he asked.

"Not yet," James replied. "But the full moon falls on our prefect duty next month as well..."

"Well what are you worried about then?" Peter asked, "We've got a whole month to come up with another excuse!"

James nodded lamely, not bothering to dispute the point.

"Hang on," Sirius said. "That's not what you're worried about, is it, Prongs?"

James averted his gaze from his best mate; suddenly appearing to be fascinated with the grass.

"You're worried about Evans, doing duty alone!" Sirius finished triumphantly.

James sighed.

"Oh, come on, Prongs," Wormtail said. "She's a big girl – she can look after herself."

"You should know that better than anyone," Sirius pointed out.

"I know she's good at magic," James began, exasperated. "But as clever as she is, she's still one teenage girl. If she were to run into a group of Slytherins..."

"What are the odds of that," Peter asked doubtfully.

"We ran into some the other week! If it were to happen again... she'd be ambushed by their brute strength!"

Both Peter and Sirius looked appraisingly at him for a moment.

"What?" James said, annoyed.

"You're getting paranoid in your old age, Prongs," Sirius answered. "Evans'll be fine."

James still wasn't convinced; he had a bad feeling about this. Nevertheless, he didn't have the chance to press the subject any further, for the three Marauders reached the Whomping Willow and changed to their animal forms.

Wormtail ran through the branches and hit the knot on the tree, so that Padfoot and Prongs could follow their twitchy little friend through the damp tunnel to find Moony.

* * *

><p><em>Fantastic<em>, thought Lily bitterly. _Marvellous_. She should really learn to pay more attention on patrols.

"Well, well," said a familiar voice. "If it isn't the little Mudblood. _Lumos!_"

The lights flared, and Lily got a clear view of her captor.

"Shall I let go?" Avery asked from behind Lily; for he was the one holding her arms.

"Yes," Lily hissed, struggling against his hold.

"Yes," Mulciber repeated. "The door's locked anyway."

Lily glared at him as Avery released her arms.

"What are you doing out of bed," she asked.

Avery raised an eyebrow. "You think we'd tell you that, Evans?"

She glared at him, reaching for her wand. The idiots hadn't even thought to take it from her. She wouldn't use it yet though; not unless strictly necessary.

"I'm the bloody _Head Girl_," she seethed. "Go to your dormitories. _Now_."

Mulciber smirked.

"Our dear Head Boy isn't here to protect you tonight, is he, Mudblood," he said, disregarding her instruction entirely.

"I don't need _protecting_."

Avery laughed as Mulciber uttered his next word.

"_Crucio!_"

Suddenly, the whole world had a red tinge. Lily could feel her blood boiling, her bones grinding together. Surely her skin was disintegrating – being ripped apart cell-by-cell.

She would have screamed, but she didn't want to give the damn scumbags the satisfaction.

And then, the curse was lifted as quickly as it was cast. Lily stumbled to her feet – although she'd never been aware of falling.

"What did you hear?" Avery asked, his voice suddenly dark – so unlike the voice of a schoolboy.

"What the hell are you on about?" Lily asked angrily. "You're out of your mind." She pulled her wand out of her pocket.

"You heard us talking when you were in the corridor... _what did you hear_." Mulciber said. He pulled out his wand, as if to curse her again, but Lily was too quick this time. She jabbed her wand towards him, and then again at his companion – so that both Slytherins were unconscious on the ground.

Lily shivered. Despite her bravado, she couldn't help wishing that James were here.

* * *

><p>It was difficult to concentrate wholly on containing Remus that night. James still had a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. It told him that Lily was in danger; his every instinct was telling him to get up to the castle.<p>

But he couldn't. If he were to leave, they'd have to herd Remus back into the Whomping Willow, for there was no way that Peter and Sirius would be able to control the enormous wolf without him. And the consequences of an uncontained Remus loose on Hogwarts grounds... James didn't even want to think about it.

He couldn't do that to Remus; the only reason that his transformations were somewhat bearable was because he could run around. From what the young werewolf had told them, the transformations before the Marauders had been so much worse.

James couldn't abandon his friend. Not on a mere whim.

So, it was with this mindset that James Potter tried to push Lily to the back of his mind; she'd be fine. She was a strong, independent witch. She didn't need him to protect her.

But then, not thinking of Lily Evans had never been a particular talent of James'.

* * *

><p>Lily took a few moments to calm herself down. She wasn't hurt; the after-effects of the Crucio Curse were purely psychological.<p>

Then again, maybe pain within the mind itself was worse than physical impairment.

With a shaking hand, she raised her wand to the two Slytherins again, and levitated them out through the doorway.

_What now?_

Dumbledore's office? The Hospital Wing?

Well, they weren't hurt. She'd only stunned them, so the Hospital Wing didn't seem strictly necessary. Dumbledore's office? Mulciber had performed an unforgivable curse... he'd go to Azkaban. Did she want that?

Looking down at the seventeen-year-old boy hovering a few inches off the ground, Lily started to question herself. They both looked so young when they were unconscious – children, really. Did they know the consequences of a curse like that?

She knew what her housemates would say.

But Lily was softer than most Gryffindors. She had a way of empathising with the people who needed it most, and deep down she knew that she couldn't just turn these Slytherins in.

She'd give them one last chance; but if they screwed up again...

Well, she'd take it from there.

Lily dropped the bodies on the ground, and stepped over them, _accidently_ treading on Avery's fingers and kicking Mulciber in the process.

Well, she wasn't about to levitate them up to their common rooms, was she? Lily may have been kinder than most, but her generosity only stretched so far.

Lily Evans left the two Slytherins who had attacked her lying in the middle of the corridor, where she hoped they'd be found in the morning, humiliated.

And she continued her patrol as if nothing had happened.

* * *

><p>It was around five in the morning when the moon finally began to sink in the sky.<p>

This procedure was practised every month, and by now worked like clockwork. Padfoot and Prongs stuck to either side of Moony, letting Wormtail lead the way.

They steered towards the Whomping Willow, where Pettigrew hit the knot beyond the flailing braches – and the tree froze.

The other Marauders followed their smallest friend through the tunnel, and soon they came to the room where Remus completed his transformations.

Peter was the first to enter the room, followed by Sirius. Remus was prodded into the room by the tips of James' antlers – so finally, all four Marauders were back in the very same room from which they had started the evening's adventure.

All they had to do now was wait.

In a way, this was the worst part of the night. James, Sirius and Peter sat on the bed provided – still in their animal forms, of course – and watched the young werewolf sadly. He would hurt himself when he was stuck in an enclosed space, throwing himself against the wall, scratching himself with his long claws, and biting his own limbs.

It was awful, watching their friend like this, hence why the Marauders tried to keep Remus outside for as long as possible. Obviously though, he needed to be out of sight when the transformation happened.

_Not long now_, James thought to himself, cringing at the sound of Lupin's yelps.

And at that moment, it started. All of a sudden, the werewolf stopped moving, and let out the most pitiful yowl yet.

The fur first – it receded into the young lycanthrope's skin, so that a bare skinned wolf was left, contorting in pain. Next, the features of the wolf reshaped themselves – ears and snout shrinking to human size, teeth sinking back into his gums. Finally – and most painfully – the bone structure shifted, Moony's entire frame shuddered and shortened, bones creaking as they returned to their natural places.

And then Remus Lupin was lying on the floor, gasping; clutching at his ribs – his eyes watery and apologetic as he looked up at his friends.

* * *

><p>Lily finished her shift late thanks to the Slytherins' interruption, so that it was almost 1am by the time she'd finished turning amorous couples out of broom closets.<p>

Exhausted from the evening's escapades, Lily traipsed up the Grand Staircase to the seventh floor. She was beginning to agree with Peter; it was entirely unnecessary for the Gryffindors to live in a tower on the _damn seventh floor_.

Lily was considering becoming an honorary member of Hufflepuff by the time her heavy legs had carried her to the portrait hole.

"_Mandrake Root_," she said tiredly to the Fat Lady, yawning. But the portrait didn't swing open. "_Mandrake Root!_" she said again, before realising that the woman in the portrait wasn't conscious. Indeed, the Fat Lady was asleep – a bottle of brandy by her side.

"_Fantastic_," Lily muttered to herself, sliding down the wall to the cold stone floor. "That's just _great_."

She'd just wait here until the portrait guardian awakened, Lily decided. After all, it wasn't really that uncomfortable... rather the opposite, actually...

Before she knew it, Lily's eyes fluttered closed, and she was asleep outside the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

><p>"Alright, Moony?" Sirius smiled, after switching back to his human form. He got up off the bed to offer Remus a hand up, which he accepted.<p>

"As ever," Remus replied, wincing as he stood up.

James transformed back to human, followed by Peter.

"You okay?" James asked, looking at the scratches and bites on Remus' arms and legs.

"I'll be fine," Remus managed to muster a weak smile. "Pomfrey will fix these up in a heartbeat."

James nodded, biting his lip. "I'm sorry, mate."

"Sorry for what?" Remus asked, confused.

"Sorry about... y'know - this," James replied, gesturing around him.

Remus smiled a little, bitterly. "It's over for a month," he said. "You'd better go – Pomfrey will be here in a bit.

The others nodded, and bade their farewell to the lycanthrope. "See you in a few hours, Moony," Peter said, as they opened the door.

"Will do," Remus said, smiling truly for a moment. "And guys... thanks."

"What are Marauders for," Sirius replied with a crooked smile, before shutting the door behind them.

The three walked in silence through the Shrieking Shack, each left to their own thoughts.

Although they did this every month; the feeling induced by seeing their best mate like that hadn't ceased. It was horrible, watching Remus turn into a monster; having to watch him hurt himself, the pain etched into his face when he finally transformed back into a human.

And the worst part was knowing that there was nothing they could do about it.

They reached the end of the passage, and stepped out of the tree, pressing the knot on the way out.

"He was worse than usual, tonight," James said, verbalising what each of the boys were thinking.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Maybe because it was the harvest moon?"

"Possible," James replied. "Difficult to say."

Peter sighed, and they continued the walk up to the castle; each too exhausted to talk. If they were lucky, they might be able to get an hour or two's sleep in... if they skipped breakfast.

They entered the castle, and began the walk up the Grand Staircase.

James was still considering the food vs sleep debate by the time they reached the seventh floor, and was so absorbed in it that he barely noticed the teenage girl slumbering next to the portrait hole.

But then he did.

"_Evans?_" James said, louder than he'd intended. He dropped to his knees beside her – all of his worries from the previous night returning. He'd all but forgotten that Peter and Sirius were right behind him.

"Lily?" He said, shaking her shoulder when she still didn't wake. "_Evans?_"

She stirred, and opened her eyes.

James heaved a sigh of relief.

"Potter?" Lily asked, her clear green eyes focusing on him. "What are you doing in my dor- oh... I'm not in my dormitory."

"No," he agreed, "You're not. What are you _doing_ out here? Are you hurt?"

Lily surveyed him for a moment. "No, I'm not hurt," she said finally. "Duty – finished late last night... the Fat Lady was asleep." She jerked her head towards the now animated portrait; "Go figure."

James nodded, and stood up. For some reason, he still didn't feel entirely comfortable.

"You're sure you're not hurt?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

It might have been his imagination, but James saw a flicker of uncertainty on his face. "_Evans._"

"I'm fine, you overprotective git," she managed a half smile.

James smirked, and offered her a hand up – trying not to react to the feeling of her skin on his.

Lily kept hold of his hand for a little longer than necessary.

"Thank you," she said, with a little too much sincerity to be referring purely to his hand.

"Anytime," James replied, using a similar tone.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A quicker update! Yay! **

**I was going to leave you on a cliffhanger, but I decided to be nice – since I left one last chapter. **

**I hope you liked the switching POV's!**

**Thank you for your reviews in the last chapter; they're much appreciated, as always. **

**Let me know what you thought!**


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way._

_Chapter 11_

"What are you doing out here, anyway?" Lily asked, quickly letting go of James' hand and breaking their gaze.

"Err..." Sirius said.

"Woke up early," Peter gabbled quickly. "Went for a walk."

"Oh, really?" Lily said with one hand on her hip. "_Mandrake Root," _she addressed the portrait, which swung forwards to admit them. "Then why didn't you see me on your way out?"

"That's a good question, Evans," James said smoothly once they'd climbed through the portrait hole. "Why didn't we see her, Sirius?"

"Good question, Prongs," Padfoot replied. "Maybe we were so tired we missed her?"

"Too eager to get on our walk," James nodded.

"Too dark, maybe," Peter imputed.

All three boys stared at Lily with wide, innocent eyes, and she couldn't help rolling hers with a half-smile.

"Go to bed," she said.

"Yes mam," James replied with a smirk, tipping his imaginary hat to her.

And then, the three Marauders scampered up the stairs, leaving Lily to her thoughts.

She sighed, and sat down on her favourite armchair – the one by the fire. Curling her legs up so that her knees were at her chest, Lily sat and watched the dying embers in the fireplace.

She wondered whether the two Slytherins had woken up yet; and if they had, what they were planning to do now? Would they come after her? And more importantly, what was the top-secret topic that they'd been discussing; the one so important that they'd – she shuddered – torture people just on the off-chance that they'd heard anything?

Nothing good, she was sure.

Cursing her indecisiveness, Lily began to question herself again – had she done the right thing by letting Mulciber walk free? What if he targeted someone else in the future? It would be her fault that he wasn't behind bars! That is... if she really had been the first to find herself on the wrong end of his wand...

It was moments like these, that Lily couldn't help thinking of her ex-best friend.

Did Sev know that his best mates were roaming the castle in the dead of night, conducting ominous plans and casting dark curses? Would he even care?

Lily refused to acknowledge the other question that was festering in the back of her mind - _Did Severus take part?_

* * *

><p>Severus was woken in the early hours of the morning by two buffoons entering his dormitory.<p>

Always having been a light sleeper, Severus sat up and wrenched open the curtains that he constantly kept tightly closed around his bed.

"What are you _doing?_" Severus asked of his two housemates, who were fully dressed, looking like rabbits caught in the headlights.

"What are _you_ doing?" Avery repeated dumbly, at the same time as Mulciber's "Nothing."

Severus rolled his eyes. Really, sometimes he mistook these imbeciles for Gryffindors.

"Planning," Avery said finally, under Snape's glare.

"Planning, Avery?" Severus repeated. "Care to _elaborate?_"

"You remember," Mulciber replied, edging closer to Severus' four-poster so that he could speak more softly. He looked warily at the two sleeping boys on Severus' right before continuing. "The meeting, during the summer... when he gave us..." Mulciber pointed to his left forearm, and Severus nodded slightly, feeling his own ever-burning mark twinge a little.

"You were planning to attempt getting through the whole list on your own," Severus said, raising an eyebrow. "Did you really think you could accomplish that?"

Mulciber and Avery flushed. "Are you in, Snape?" Avery asked.

Severus considered. Maybe all was not lost. This might be the perfect opportunity to get onto Lily's good side again, not to mention the praise from the Dark Lord...

"I'm in," the foolish, dark haired wizard replied. "We shall meet soon."

The other two nodded, and made to get into their beds.

"Hold on a second," Severus said. "Why are you so late back. Surely... planning didn't take that long?"

"No," Avery replied. "A little trouble with a Mudblood."

Now, if Snape had bothered to enquire into what kind of trouble the boys were referring to – or even asked which student – he might have revoked his previous decision; and that, in turn, might have changed the outcome that Lily Evans would face in years to come.

Unfortunately, this was not the case: Severus Snape nodded curtly and drew his curtains back around him without another word.

* * *

><p>Lily didn't intend to sleep again, and resolved to stay in her armchair until dawn (which wasn't so very far off now), but alas, her eyelids fluttered closed, and she drifted in and out of consciousness.<p>

Her dreams were strange – disjointed. One minute she was dreaming of James – they were walking along the edge of the Black Lake, hand in hand. The two of them were laughing and joking as they walked past the Whomping Willow. James smiled, looking happier than she'd ever seen him in waking hours – his lips drew closer to hers... And then, with a howl, the scene changed. Avery, Mulciber and Severus were sat in a dark room – discussing something which Lily couldn't hear. The last scene Lily saw was a flash of Sev's left arm before the dream transformed again – a haunting image of the moon, larger than usual, as it had been the previous night.

With another animalistic cry of pain, the scene went black.

These dreams might have told Lily a lot of important things. They might have shown her aspects of herself, her feelings, and other things that were happening in the castle. Of these, Lily's conscious mind was ignorant of these, but her subconscious had ever-so-cleverly pieced events together, resulting in the dreams.

Unfortunately for Lily, she'd have to work things out for herself; for the mind works in strange ways – upon waking, Lily had no idea she'd dreamt at all.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly, James was the first down to the common room that morning. Despite his exhaustion, on nights of the full moon, he usually didn't end up sleeping. Once you stayed awake past a certain point... well, there was no going back.<p>

So James creeped out of the boys dormitory (Sirius and Peter seemed to have no trouble falling asleep), and made his way down the stairs to the common room.

The sight that greeted him upon entering the room made him smile.

Lily Evans was slumbering in the armchair by the fire – otherwise known as James' favourite seat in the entire common room. It was half past six in the morning – almost an hour after James and the other boys had left her here in the common room.

He approached her quietly, and sat on the side of the chair. He hated to ruin this moment: Lily, asleep – her face relaxed; red hair falling across her face... but he didn't think she'd appreciate being found asleep in the common room by the rest of her house to see.

He took a moment to brush the stray red hairs off her face, and then put a hand on her shoulder.

"Lily?" he said quietly. "Lily, wake up."

"Hmm," Lily groaned, before her eyes fluttered open to focus on James... for the second time that morning.

"Potter?" she asked, disorientated, "Oh, Merlin."

"You've got a thing about sleeping in public places, Evans," James grinned.

"I didn't mean to-" she started indignantly.

"Save it," James replied. "Your secret is safe with me, Evans. Anyway, it's not nearly as weird as some of Sirius' habits..."

"I don't want to know," she said quickly, shuddering.

"Smart girl," James said. He meant it too, but Lily rolled her eyes.

He stretched his legs across so that they reached the other arm of the armchair, purely for the satisfaction of watching Lily blush.

"D'you mind, Potter," she said, attempting to push his legs off her.

"Not particularly," he replied airily.

Lily hit his leg, and then winced – nursing her hand. James smirked.

"So you came here to wake me up..."

"To save you from being found by the rest of our housemates..." James continued chivalrously.

Lily frowned, "And then refuse to let me leave?"

James considered. "Yep."

"You're a git."

"You love it."

"I do _not_," she was blushing again – he couldn't help but appreciate how adorable that was.

"Sure, Evans," he said, grinning, "I believe you."

"You are singularly the most annoying, conceited, bloody-"

"Now now, Evans, is that any way to speak to the Head Boy?"

She glared. "I still don't understand how you got the badge."

"Me neither," James admitted, shrugging. "But at least it means you get to spend more quality time with me, hey, Evans?"

"You are intolerable."

James laughed, and swung his legs round so that she was free to go. "Go on, get dressed," he said, "wouldn't want people to get ideas... you and I... here alone... you being in the same clothes as yesterday..."

Lily's cheeks reddened again, and she rolled her eyes at James' wink. "_Intolerable_," she muttered again, as she got up and walked across the room.

It was so much fun – making her blush.

* * *

><p>It was odd, Lily thought, seeing Avery and Mulciber sit at the Slytherin table at breakfast as though nothing had happened the night before. If they noticed her glance, they didn't let on – continuing to mutter with Severus.<p>

Lily really wished that the sight of him with those two didn't cause such a heavy blow to her chest.

"You okay, Lily?" Marlene asked, shrewd as ever.

"Fine," Lily replied, turning away from the Slytherin table. "Starving though," she motioned to the empty plates on the Gryffindor table.

"We're early," Alice reminded her.

"True," she said, looking at her watch. For a Sunday morning, the three girls were down really early – after Lily had accidently woken them whilst getting changed. Both had insisted on coming down to the Great Hall early, after taking a look at her.

The Gryffindor table was pretty much empty, and the three took their usual seats at the far end of the bench, where they were unlikely to be overheard.

"Spill," Alice said, when they were sat down, both girls on her right.

"Spill what?" Lily said.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb, Lils. You look awful."

"Gee, thanks," Lily muttered.

"You know that's not what I meant," Marlene snapped. "Now stop changing the subject!"

"Marlene!" Alice scolded. "You look awfully pale, Lily. And your bed wasn't slept in last night..."

"Did you get off with someone?" Marlene burst out with suddenly, "It was Potter, wasn't it? You shagged James Potter!"

"_Marlene_," Alice said again, glaring at her as Lily spluttered. "Would a little tact hurt? Really?"

"I did _not!_" Lily screeched.

"You did not what?" an amused voice asked from behind her – the very voice she least wanted to hear at this particular moment.

Lily shot Marlene an '_if-you-repeat-that-I-am-going-to-murder-you'_ look, and Marlene surrendered, holding her hands up.

"Hey," she said, "It was a possibility."

"What was?" asked James Potter, sliding onto the bench on Lily's left.

"Marlene being pushed off the Astronomy tower tonight," Lily replied sweetly, earning a tongue poke from Marlene.

"Developing homicidal tendencies, Evans?" Potter asked, his hazel eyes burning into her green.

"Hmm," she replied intelligently.

"Snap out of it, Lily," Alice said, and Lily turned back to her quickly, her face burning. She could still feel James' satisfied grin. "What happened last night?"

"Nothing," Lily replied instantly.

Alice raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" James asked. "Evans?"

"_Nothing_."

"We'll have this discussion later," Alice warned, not looking at all convinced.

Lily gulped, and for a moment wished that her friends weren't _quite _so observant.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That's right. I wrote a chapter in a single **_**day**_**. I think this might be a record. **

**I hope you liked it! :) Lots of James/Lily action going on in this one ;)**

**Please review: I only got two yesterday – and as much as I appreciate the two that I did receive (a special thank you to QueenOfTheEyesores and Rayven49), it would be great to know what the rest of you thought! **

**Thanks :)**


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way._

_Chapter 12_

Surprisingly, the two weeks at Hogwarts passed without much incident.

Thus far, Lily had managed to keep the true nature of what had happened that night from her friends (despite Alice's constant interrogation and Marlene's guesses), and she hadn't spoken to – or even been in close quarters to – the Slytherins who had attacked her since she'd knocked them out.

It seemed they'd woken up earlier than she'd ex pected, for there was no talk of the two of them being found in the middle of the corridor in the morning (and that news would have spread quickly). Although it made things easier for Lily on the not-telling-Alice-or-Marlene-and-especially-not-James front, it did seem a shame that the gits got off without the humiliation.

Thursday morning started off bright and clear; a misleading indication of the day to come.

Lily woke up the way she usually did on school days: with Alice prodding her, and Marlene threatening to rip the duvet off the bed.

"Ughhh," Lily moaned.

"Up, Lily!" Alice said, her pokes becoming more violent. "Breakfast starts in twenty minutes."

Lily groaned again, and attempted to burrow back down under the covers.

"Lily," Marlene said, "James Potter is waiting in the common r oom for you..."

Lily sat up straight, before realising her mistake when the other two girls burst into laughter.

"She's got it _bad_," Marlene commented to Alice, who nodded.

Lily glared at them, and hoisted herself out of bed, before walking to the bathroom.

"I hate you both," she said grouchily.

"You most certainly do _not!_" Alice said. "We're the only reason you get breakfast on weekdays."

"You love us really," Marlene said sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

"Along with James Potter," Alice stage whispered, bursting into laughter again.

"I do not!" Lily said, her face burning. "On _both _accounts!" she said, before slamming the bathroom door behind her.

She could still hear their uproarious laughter from the other side of the wall, and sighed. Lily didn't look into the mirror before stepping into the shower, for she knew her face would be equally red as her hair.

* * *

><p>As was their regular Thursday morning schedule, most of the seventh-year Gryffindors set off to Charms straight after breakfast – the rest, who had dropped Charms, left for Arithmacy.<p>

Lily was amongst the Charms lot; so she, Marlene and Alice, followed closely by the Marauders, made their way up to the second floor.

After being welcomed inside by Professor Flitwick, Lily, Marlene and Alice took their usual triple desk at the front of the class. The Marauders took their seats at the back of the room, and the lesson commenced.

Lily could feel a tingling on the back of her neck for the majority of the lesson, as though somebody was staring at her. She suspected a certain messy-haired bespectacled wizard, but whenever she looked around, James stared innocently out of the window, before meeting her gaze and winking. Lily would turn back, hoping he didn't notice her pink cheeks and the little smile that she couldn't stop spreading across her lips.

The lesson went by far too quickly – and by the end, Lily wasn't really sure what she'd learnt. It seemed that she'd spent the majority of the lesson where she should have been revising switching charms, lost in her own thoughts.

She'd just have to borrow Marlene's notes later.

Potions next: Lily shoved her quill and barely-written on parchment in her bag, and followed Marlene and Alice out of the classroom door.

She was rather looking forward to Potions, she had to admit. Despite the fact that they had the lesson with the Slytherins, it was still Lily's favourite. It just... immediately made sense. It came easily to Lily in the way that Quidditch did to James.

And she was back to thinking about James Potter again. How did that even happen?

Lily wasn't aware that she'd zoned out until a hand moved in front of her face, followed by Alice's voice. "Lily? Wakey wakey!"

Lily shook her head. "Sorry," she said to her amused friends as they walked down the Grand Staircase together.

They exchanged a look, smirking, which Lily pretended she hadn't seen.

"Hey, Evans!" called a familiar voice from behind. Lily smiled, and didn't turn around as the Marauders approached.

"Hey," James said, brushing the hair out of his face. "Duty tonight then?"

"Wouldn't miss it," she replied. "Unlike you," she added, raising an eyebrow. James was unfazed, grinning a little wider, but Remus went a little pink.

"Let it go, Evans – that was two weeks ago!"

She shrugged, and Potter didn't have time to reply as they walked into Potions.

Although Lily hated the setting of the lesson – she wasn't a fan of the damp, dark dungeons – with their fume-filled classrooms and lack of natural light - she'd always loved Potions as a subject.

Before the... fallout... Lily and Severus used to sit together. They made the ideal pair, and Slughorn was delighted every time the two brought their vial of potion to the front of the class.

He'd been dismayed when Lily had demanded she switch seats.

Lily glanced at Severus as she walked into the classroom. He sat at their old desk, at the back of the room – but Avery sat beside him now.

Severus didn't look at her; he was preparing his ingredients. But as Lily made her way to the front seat – where she sat with Marlene – she had a feeling that Severus had been purposely avoiding her gaze. Not unusual, these days... but still unsettling.

Lily sat down, Marlene sliding in beside her, and they were greeted warmly by Slughorn.

"Hello, Lily m'dear!" he said, beaming.

"Hello, Professor," she greeted, not meeting his eyes.

"I must say – that Polyjuice Potion you handed in to me last lesson was perfect! Such talent... such talent. I've sent a few vials off to the Auror department, actually – they're always asking for more!"

Lily managed a genuine smile – after a month of brewing, she'd grown quite proud of that potion. "Thank you, Professor," she said, "I'm glad it was useful."

Horace smiled fondly at the redhead for a few more moments, before moving off hurriedly to the Marauders table – where Sirius was attempting to combust a triple-horned slug with a Bunsen burner that spewed purple fire.

Marlene laughed, "Good old Sluggy," she said.

Lily smiled. "Yeah..."

She turned around to see if Sirius had successfully blown up the slug, and was greeted with the sight of Alice and Frank on the table behind, whispering softly to each other with little smiles on their faces.

Lily felt a pang of guilt. She'd been so wrapped up in her own issues lately – homework, revision, Head duty... and James Potter – she'd admit it – that she hadn't been paying her friends' issues enough attention.

She turned back to Marlene, who was also watching the pair. "What's going on there, then?" Lily asked, grinning.

Marlene returned it. "She hasn't said anything to me either... but what does it look like to you?"

Lily nodded. "Interrogation later?"

Marlene nodded, a mischievous smile still etched on her face. "I think so. Eight tonight? In the dorm?"

Lily shook her head. "I finish duty at eleven..."

"Eleven-fifteen it is, then!" she said, "I'll keep Alice awake somehow. Blast Celestina Werbeck out of the Wireless or something."

"She'll love you for that," Lily replied, "And Channelle and Emmeline won't thank you either... but good plan."

Marlene laughed again. "It's not like Channelle is in the dorm much anyway... did you hear about her and McLean? Davies too for that matter. And Malfoy as well, apparently. I've heard she likes the older man – even if she does have to sneak into Hogsmede to get a quick shag."

Lily giggled, hitting her friend half-heatedly. "Don't be a bitch."

"But _Lily_, I _am_ a bitch! And I can't help it that Channelle's a slag-"

"Today, class..." Slughorn interrupted; having made it back to the front of the class after confiscating James and Sirius' Bunsen burner. "Today, class, we'll be making Sleeping concoctions! It appears that the fifth years are getting rather anxious about their O.W.L's – keep going to Madam Pomfrey for their dose of dreamless sleep! The Hospital Wing needs to replenish their stocks; and who better to do it than my star N.E.W.T. class! Now get to it," he said, flourishing his wand at the store cupboard so that it flew open. "Instructions are on page ninety-four!"

* * *

><p>After Potions, the day dragged. It was one of those where Lily wanted nothing more than to retire back to her bed. But the Head Girl couldn't skip lessons, so she suck it up, and tried to look vaguely enthusiastic about her education.<p>

Lunch came and went with no particular incident. Lily and Marlene sat at the Gryffindor bench, spying unsubtly on Alice and Frank – who remained in animated conversation throughout.

Double Defence Against the Dark Arts was awful. Upon entering the classroom, their teacher, Professor Danson, uttered the words that every Hogwarts Student dreaded: "Wands away, quills out."

The class let out a simultaneous groan, which was ignored by their teacher – who distributed the textbooks with a flick of his wand.

"Now now," he said, in response to the class' glares, "Learning the theory is just as important as putting it into practise."

That was just about where Lily switched off.

* * *

><p>It was almost a relief to get to Prefect Duty that evening.<p>

James was lounging in the armchair by the fire – Remus on the armchair next to him. Sirius and Peter were sprawled on the floor. Lily might have found this odd coming from anyone else, but from the Marauders, it was normal.

"Hi," Lily said as she approached James, looking at her watch. It was precisely two minutes to nine.

"Hey, Evans," Potter greeted with a lazy smile. He stretched and stood up – and his seat was instantly nabbed by Sirius.

"Oi!" Peter protested.

"First-come, first-serve, Wormtail," Sirius said, grinning and stretching his legs across to Remus' armchair. Remus promptly pushed them off.

Lily laughed. "Play nice," she said.

"Mmhmm," James agreed. "And don't do anything to damage our reputation while I'm gone. We don't want the whole word to know that Padfoot is... mentally disturbed."

"Oi!" Sirius said.

"Later," James said with one wave of his hand, grinning at his best mate as he followed Lily through the common room.

They could still hear Sirius' spluttering as they exited the portrait hole.

"They're idiots," James said fondly, as they began to descend the staircase, "but they're my idiots."

"You fit in nicely," Lily commented, smiling.

James opened his mouth, and then closed it again. "Touché."

"Touché? That's your reply? You're losing your touch, Potter."

"Oi! I am not! I'm perfectly capable of rebuking your insults, Evans!"

"No, you're not."

"Well, you don't insult me as much anymore! I'm out of practise."

Lily's heart was beating fast. Was James walking closer to her? Or was that just her imagination? In the mundane surroundings of the Charms Corridor, Lily felt as if she were floating two feet off the ground.

She turned her head quickly, and continued walking down the corridor. "Touché."

James laughed, "Is that the best you can do, Evans?" He caught up with her from behind, and slipped his arms round her waist. She didn't realise what his intentions were until...

"James what are you-" she squealed at his ticking of her sides.

"Not so clever now, hey, Evans?" he asked, laughing at her laughter.

"Let-me-go...I-WILL-HEX-YOU!"

"Hmm... as tempting as that offer is..."

"James POTTER!"

"What was that, Evans, I didn't hear you. Was it... James Potter is the best-looking guy to ever walk these corridors?"

"NO," Lily screeched, still laughing uncontrollably.

"Ahh, stubborn," James grinned.

"Sod-off... Potter!"

"Or what?" he said, his hands linking together behind her back, so that their bodies were close together.

She looked up into his eyes, breathless.

"I - hate you."

"You don't."

There was a moment of silence where the faces of the Head Pupils sobered, and suddenly, they were subconsciously leaning into each other.

Now, anyone could guess what might have happened next, but apparently, James and Lily's luck was astonishingly bad that night.

"What's going on here, then?" a horribly familiar voice asked.

James and Lily sprung away from each other, blood rushing to each of their faces.

But that didn't last long: Lily's turned pale when she saw who'd addressed her.

"Avery. Mulciber."

"Fancy running into the Mudblood again," Mulciber said in mock conversation to Avery. "Remind me, Avery... what happened last time?"  
><em>No, please no. Not in front of James. Please.<em>

But Lily's pleading was silent, and Avery went straight on to say what she'd least wanted him to mention.

"You used Crucio on her," Avery said dumbly – as if he didn't understand how his companion had forgotten.

James' reaction was instantaneous. He instinctively pushed Lily behind him with one sweep of his arm, and spoke in a low, dangerous voice that Lily had never heard before.

"You _tortured _her."

Mulciber considered. "Yep. Sounds about right." He twitched as if he were having a fit – a cruel imitation of Lily's suffering.

"James, please," Lily whimpered.

There was a dead silence for a millisecond, and then before Lily could do or say anything more, James charges at the two Slytherins. Avery gave a little whimper as James slammed his fist into both of their faces with one fatal hit. _WHAM_ – James' punch crunched Mulciber's cheekbones and smashed Mulciber's skull into Avery's. And thenboth Slytherins lay splayed on the floor, bleeding and unconsious.

James pulled out his wand, but Lily tried to hold him back. "Please James, please don't!"

"Please don't _what!_" he said angrily, spinning around to face her. "Please don't hurt the bastards who hurt _you_? Why the _hell_ are you trying to protect them, Lily?"

Lily took a deep breath... and completely broke down.

She would be ashamed to say it in a few hours time, but at that moment, Lily Evans cracked. She sobbed, and tears that had been withheld for far too long streamed down her face.

James' face softened. He held out his arms, and she walked right into them. "Bloody hell, Evans." He murmured into her hair. "I'm sorry. It was when I was wi- when I couldn't make duty that night?" She nodded, heaving great gasps as she sobbed into his chest.

"Why didn't you tell me?" James pleaded with her, holding her out at arm length so that she couldn't hide her face. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Marlene? Alice? McGonagall?"

She didn't reply, looking down at the floor stubbornly – rubbing tears off her face. "Evans!"

"What?" she snapped. "I didn't tell you because you'd react like this! I didn't want you to get them in trouble!"

James let go of Lily's shoulders, and took a step back, open-mouthed. "You didn't want them to _get in trouble?"_ he repeated. "Are you completely _insane_?"

Lily stared back defiantly, all traces of tears gone from her features. "They'd get expelled!"

"And they'd bloody well _deserve it_!" James shouted. "I don't _understand_ you! Why are you _protecting_ them?"

Considering that she didn't even know that herself, Lily stayed silent, glaring at James.

"You and your bloody Slytherins!" James said finally, exasperated.

Lily felt another of those familiar blows to her chest.

"What are you insinuating?" she asked, hoping he didn't mean what she thought.

"You know bloody well what I mean, Evans! Snape! Bloody Severus Snape is in your mind again – in your bloody _heart_! _Why? _Why did you stop these gits getting punished? You don't know, so I'll tell you. Because you're still thinking of Severus Snape as your best friend – even if he _did_ betray you."

"That's totally irrelevant!" Lily said – even though she knew it wasn't. "You're _jealous_. You're the same bloody jealous _little boy_ who had to pick on Severus to get attention!"

James' face clouded for a moment, and Lily knew she'd gone too far.

"Fine," he said. "If that's what you think of me, I'm glad you've made yourself clear." He stepped over the bodies, and walked a few metres before turning round. "I hope you and _Snivellus_ are very happy together."

Lily stood, shaking, her skin still wet from the tears she'd cried into James' chest only minutes before. "James-"

"I think we're finished for duty today," James said coldly. "Try not to get tortured again, yeah?"

With that, James Potter walked off, leaving Lily with the two unconscious Slytherins, and a heart full of regrets.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A lot of you wanted James' reaction – but I bet you didn't think it would turn out like this! **

**Oh, the drama. **

**I hope you liked it – I've been waiting to write that scene for a while now, so I hope it suffices. **

**Thanks for your reviews on the last chapter!**

**And feedback on this one is warmly welcomed, as always!**

**Love,**

**Abi**


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way._

_Chapter 13_

James paced away from Lily, blood pounding in his ears. What the _hell _was she thinking? Just when he thought they were finally getting somewhere – she goes and does something utterly insane; completely illogical, and then takes it out on the one who tries to help.

Lily Evans was completely infuriating.

But James couldn't just stop caring, as she probably thought he could.

It didn't work like that.

Despite Lily's cries of his name – which still tugged at his heartstrings, infuriatingly – James didn't turn back. But neither did he turn to the Grand Staircase and climb to the seventh floor – James' paranoid mind was working in overdrive.

_What if they woke up, _it said. _They could hurt her if she stayed there. They would._

So, James Potter found himself in the second floor boy's bathroom, locked in one of the cubicles for the sake of privacy, and studying particular dot on a piece yellowing parchment – the Marauder's Map.

Lily Evans' dot was still lingering in the Charms Corridor, a little distance away from the still dots belonging to Mulciber and Avery.

James sighed. He wondered what she was thinking right this moment. Was she wondering about him? Regretting? Maybe she'd already slipped back into her 'I-hate-James-Potter' act.

He hoped not.

Maybe she wasn't thinking of him at all. James' chest tightened painfully at that thought. Maybe she was wondering how to make up with Snape. Or perhaps she was tending to the Slytherins. Sending the teachers after him.

No, he reasoned, she couldn't do all that from her position completely stationary, a few metres from the scumbags.

Besides, he didn't think she'd sell him out like that.

Or... he hoped not, at least.

James watched as Lily's dot grew closer to the two stationary ones. It stayed there for a moment or two, and then walked away.

James' chest constricted painfully again as he wondered why she'd grown so close to them.

* * *

><p>"James-" Lily called again, her voice shaking. "James... please," her voice died as he walked around the corner. No doubt back to the common room, where he wouldn't have to look at the one he'd just defended so valiantly.<p>

Lily found herself sliding down the wall, drawing her knees up to her chest, and resting her forehead upon them.

_What had she done._

James was right – she was insane. She'd jeopardized the newly formed friendship she'd had with James – the very same one she'd subconsciously hoped would turn into something more – in order to protect a couple of Slytherins who had maliciously cursed her.

What the hell was she thinking?

And with one deep, shuddering breath, Lily was crying again.

But this time, she didn't have James Potter to comfort her.

Was he right? Did she still care for Severus?

Lily missed him: she knew that much. She missed his patient explanations of aspects of the wizarding world, the way they could sit in silence for an hour and it wouldn't be awkward. And yes – she'd admit it – she missed having a friend that wasn't in Gryffindor. She loved her housemates dearly, but it used to be nice to hang around someone a little more reserved once in a while.

_Used to._

Those were the key words in that train of thought; for once again, James was right. Severus _had _betrayed her.

Lily had felt him slipping away through the duration of fifth year, as little as she'd wanted to acknowledge it at the time (or even now); she knew he was slipping further into the realm of the Dark Arts. She'd see him write down spells – awful spells – in the Advanced Potions Making book that Professor Slughorn had given to both of them a year early. He started spending less time with Lily, and more with his Slytherin friends – indeed, the ones who lay unconscious beside Lily now.

And the part that scared Lily most, that set off the alarm bells she'd inadvertently blocked out - he'd refused to talk about life after Hogwarts.

Somewhere in the back of Lily's mind, she'd retained this information. So when the fatal slip of Severus' tongue had occurred; when he'd inevitably used the forbidden word in reference to Lily – she knew it was over.

One word.

_Mudblood._

And Sev was gone.

Lily hugged her knees. James was right about why she'd spared the Slytherins from punishment – it had been subconscious, certainly, but her questionable decision-making was in some way connected to Severus.

But James' other accusations? Did she want to make up with Severus? Did she still want to protect the '_bloody Slytherins'_?

_No, _Lily's mind responded instantly. Sev was beyond her help, and protecting his friends would make no difference to the situation.

Her mind set with decisions almost made too late, Lily stood up, and walked over to the Slytherins for a moment.

_Goodbye, Sev, _she thought to herself; and with that, kicked both of the Slytherins where it would hurt most, before walking away, impatiently brushing away tear tracks that had once again stained her cheeks.

* * *

><p>James watched as the dot belonging to Lily Evans climbed up through the floors of the Grand Staircase, until she reached the seventh, bypassed two dots labelled 'Marlene McKinnon' and 'Alice Prewett', and made her way up to the Girls Dormitory.<p>

James sighed, wondering whether she was upset, and beginning to regret his accusations. Sure, some of them may have been true; but both he and Lily had said some pretty awful things, and it seemed that they'd stepped across some invisible line. There were certain subjects that neither Head Boy nor Girl breached, but in the heat of the moment, it seemed that both of them had forgotten that.

_But he couldn't forget what she'd said._

Did she still think of him like that? As the prick he'd been at fifteen years old? Contrary to popular belief, James was deeply ashamed of how he'd acted in his younger years. He'd tried so hard to change; to show the students of Hogwarts – or one student in particular – that he wasn't just James Potter: Quidditch Captain extraordinaire.

He didn't want _Lily_ of all people to think of him like that.

* * *

><p>Lily rushed up to the dormitory, ignoring Alice and Marlene's cries of her name, and still holding the futile hope that they wouldn't follow her up the stairs.<p>

She really needed some alone time.

Lily collapsed on her bad, and pulled the covers over her head like a shield.

'_You're _jealous_. You're the same bloody jealous little boy who had to pick on Severus to get attention!' _Lily's own words played over and over again in her mind. How had she been so cruel? She'd hit James right where she knew he'd feel it most. And the worst part was that she _knew_ it wasn't true. Lily knew James had changed – or she wouldn't have become friends with him. But the words were out now – the damage done.

She just hoped it wasn't permanent.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Prongs! Let me in!"<p>

James sighed. He was comfortable, lying on top of the covers with his hands supporting his head. And he really didn't want company right now.

"_Prongs! _This is my dorm too! And I want to know why you got back early from duty, and have been sulking in here ever since! Did Evans reject you again?"

James scowled, and flicked his wand at the door, so that it flung forwards suddenly. Sirius Black landed in a pile on the floor.

He looked at James. "That wasn't very nice."

James shrugged in reply, and Sirius sat on the end of his bed.

"So?" he asked expectantly.

"So what," James replied grouchily.

"_What happened_?" Sirius replied impatiently.

"Nothing."

"Shut up, Prongs."

"Fine."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You're as bad as Nancy Hashawk."

"Am not," James replied childishly, shuddering at the thought of Sirius' ex.

"Are too. _'Oh, Sirius, I can't possibly tell you what's wrong... figure it out, or I'll dump you.'_"

"Still bitter, Pads?"

"Zip it, Potter."

James grinned.

"Now there's that sunny smile," Sirius said, "going to tell me what's up now, mate?"

James rolled his eyes again, but relented.

"Well... it all started in the Charms Corridor."

* * *

><p>Lily wasn't left in peace for long, just as she'd predicted.<p>

Marlene and Alice walked in silently, and Lily felt the bed shift as they sat down either side of her.

Alice gently peeled the bedcovers off, so that they could see Lily's face.

Lily could tell that they knew she'd been crying, from their expressions.

"What happened, honey?" Alice asked softly.

Lily attempted to burrow back under the duvet, but Marlene pulled it away.

"We know something's wrong, Lils. You've been acting weird for ages – and now leaving duty early? That's not the Lily Evans we know."

Lily sighed, and looked at her friends. Her voice still shook a little when she spoke.

"I've bloody screwed up everything."

* * *

><p>Sirius took a moment to process the information.<p>

"So... you found out she'd been cursed... hugged her, and then yelled at her? It's an original pulling technique; I'll give you that..."

"_Padfoot!_"

"...apparently not very effective though..."

"_Sirius!_ This isn't about- she _lied_ to me!"

"Pfft," Sirius replied. "She lied to all of us, you git." He paused. "You said she had a thing for Slytherins?"

"She _does_."

Sirius gave him a pitying look. "You're hopeless."

"Me?" James asked, "_I'm_ hopeless?"

"You're completely and utterly hopeless when it comes to Lily Evans."

"Am not."

"Yes, you are. But then, she's just as hopeless when it comes to you."

James stared, and could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. "What do you-" he interrupted himself; "It doesn't matter. She hates me now."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You're so overdramatic."

"Is this insult-James-Potter day? I didn't get the notification."

Sirius snorted. "You had her in your arms and you didn't bloody snog her?"

"She was crying! I was trying to comfort her!"

"I know what would have comforted her," Sirius muttered.

"_Padfoot!"_

"You're hopeless." Sirius stated again.

"Wha-"

"Hopeless."

James sighed; glad he'd omitted the part directly before the incident.

"You had a bloody good opportunity... and you messed it up by _blaming her?" _Sirius said after a pause, looking disbelievingly at his best friend.

"She yelled first."

"You told her to go snog Snivellus?"

"_No!_"

"You didn't?"

"...not in so many words."

"And she brought up the whole hexing-Snape thing?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," James replied. "And accused me of not having changed. And being jealous."

"Harsh," Sirius said, although he was clearly trying not to laugh.

"This isn't funny!"

"I beg to differ," Sirius said, smirking.

"Remind me why I chose you confide in you?" James asked, scowling.

"Because you love me?"

James rolled his eyes, smiling a little despite himself. "You wish."

* * *

><p>Marlene made the first comment when Lily had finished her story (excluding the moment between the two of them before the Slytherins came along. Lily still wasn't sure what to make of that.)<p>

"You're both being idiots," she said frankly.

"_Marlene!" _Alice glared. "Don't pay any attention, Lils. But... why didn't you tell us about the Slytherins?" Her tone was sad and concerned, which just added to Lily's guilt over the whole situation.

"Because she wanted to '_protect_' them," Marlene said, rolling her eyes. "Potter has a point, you know. That was really dumb."

Funnily enough, Lily found herself smiling a little at Marlene's bluntness.

"It was, a bit," Lily agreed.

Marlene grinned, and Lily returned it – much to Alice's surprise.

Her expression sobered more quickly than it would normally.

"What about James?" she asked sadly. "I said some awful things to him..."

"And he said some back to you," Alice said diplomatically. "I think you're even."

"It's not like fighting is a new thing for you two," Marlene shrugged.

Lily nodded. "Thanks," she said, managing a half-smile.

Marlene and Alice took that as their cue to leave, and stood up.

"We'll be downstairs if you need us," Alice said.

Marlene nodded in agreement. "At least one good thing came out of this, Lils," she said, eyes twinkling.

"What?" Lily said suspiciously.

"You got to spend some time in James Potter's arms," Marlene smirked.

Lily smiled. "Sod off."

Marlene flashed her one last grin, and the two Gryffindor Girls exited the dorm.

* * *

><p>Sirius Black was waiting for Alice and Marlene at the bottom of the dorm stairs.<p>

"What are you doing here?" Alice asked suspiciously.

Sirius smirked. "Don't worry, Prewett, I'm not planning on Dungbombing the girls dorm."

"Again," Marlene muttered.

"Let it go, McKinnon – that was five years ago."

"You didn't have to live in the stink," Marlene replied bitterly.

Sirius acted as if he hadn't heard the girl's comment. "I've been up to see Prongs," he said. "And I'm guessing you've just come down from visiting Lily-petal?"

Marlene neither confirmed nor denied it, but Alice nodded.

Sirius' face sobered a little. "How is she?"

"Fine," Alice replied. "She's still a little upset, naturally, but-"

"She's still sulking a bit," Marlene said. "But she'll come around. What about James?"

"About the same," Sirius replied. "But I wouldn't have thought he'll stay sulky for much longer."

"Why not?" Marlene asked curiously.

"They won't be able to stay away from each other for that long," Sirius replied, smiling a little again.

Alice smiled. "You're right about that."


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way._

_Chapter 14_

After her friends left, Lily spent the rest of the night curled up in bed, willing the morning to never arrive.

Of course, when one wishes for time to slow down, it has a defiant tendency to do the exact opposite.

Lily wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep – sometime after she'd eaten the food that Marlene and Alice kindly brought up for her. All she knew was that suddenly the previously silent dormitory was alive with chatter and giggles, the room was brighter, and there was something sharp poking her shoulder.

"Wakey wakey Lils," Alice's voice said, laughing at Lily's groan.

"I'm up, I'm up!" she said, rubbing her arm as she sat upright. "I should really get an alarm clock... they're less painful, I hear."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Do you remember what happened to the last one?"

Lily bit her lip. "I think it involved a semiconscious curse and a lot of shattered glass?"

"Correct. And anyway, you'd have to get another magical one – muggle ones won't work here. And they only sell those at Diagon Alley so..."

"I get the picture," Lily groaned. "Thank you ever so much, Alice, for interrupting my peaceful slumber, so that I can start a surely very uncomfortable day."

Alice grinned as Lily climbed out of bed. "You're welcome! Hey, Marlene –" she addressed the girl stood at the mirror, curling her blonde hair around her wand. "- d'you think dear Lily's using sarcasm?"

"It's possible," Marlene replied sarcastically, without tearing her eyes away from her reflection.

Lily stuck out her tongue at both of them, before retreating into the bathroom.

It was Friday morning, just gone seven. Lily stepped into the shower, relishing in the feeling of the warm water soothing her tensed muscles.

For better or for worse...today was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

><p>James woke up insanely early that morning, with what felt like a colony of butterflies fluttering in his stomach.<p>

It was strange, but for the first time ever, he was dreading seeing Lily Evans.

After a few moments of trying to get back to sleep, James sat up, sighing, and walked past the other sleeping Marauders.

He sat precariously on the narrow window sill, and looked through the glass. He always used to sit here when he was younger. He'd wake up early, and look out onto the Quidditch pitch – itching to play.

Some things never changed.

It was a little cloudier than yesterday, but still bright for this time in the morning in the winter, and the ground was dry.

Perfect Quidditch conditions, James decided, and crawled under his bed to pull out his Nimbus 1000.

If there was anything that would help him formulate a plan, it would be Quidditch.

* * *

><p>Just as she finished blow-drying her hair with her wand, Lily realised with a jolt that she'd completely forgotten about the agreement that she and Marlene had made in Potions.<p>

_Bloody Hell._

Why was she so self-centred? She'd completely forgotten about asking Alice about Frank, because once again, she found herself caught up in James-Bloody-Potter.

_James-Bloody-Potter._

Now, that had a ring to it.

_Stop thinking about James-Bloody-Potter, Lily._

Right. Alice. They'd just have to reschedule the interrogation for tonight. She was sure Alice wouldn't mind.

Not that Alice even knew about the scheduled interrogation.

Whatever.

Lily met her friends in the dormitory in a considerably better mood than she'd left them.

"About time," Marlene said, looking at her watch. "We thought you were going to make us late for breakfast!"

"Not that it'd be the first time," Alice added, linking arms with Lily as the three of them walked out of the dormitory door.

Lily laughed. She was glad that they weren't dwelling on the emotional wreck she'd been the previous day. She'd rather forget it. _Like how she'd cried in James-Bloody-Potter's arms..._

_Shh, Lily. _

Wow, she was really going overboard with the schizophrenic tendencies...

"I've made us late a grand total of _twice_," Lily said, interrupting her persistent inner-murmurings.

"Only because Alice tortures you awake every morning," Marlene reasoned, smirking.

Lily subconsciously rubbed the invisible bruise on her shoulder, "You've got that right."

"Oh, quit your whining," Alice said as they walked down the dormitory stairs into the common room. "Do you know what real torture is? Double Potions first thing on a Friday morning."

Lily grimaced; the thought of seeing James, Mulciber and Avery in the same room again was frankly terrifying.

Alice noticed, and sent her a comforting look. "They're not going to try anything in class, Lils."

"Yeah, I know," Lily replied, leaning into Alice a little as they walked through the almost-empty common room.

"They're probably scared of James now anyway," Marlene commented. "It sounded like a pretty good punch."

"It was," a familiar voice interrupted from directly behind them.

A voice that sent chills up the back of Lily's neck.

"Evans," he said softly. "Can I have a word?"

"Uh. Okay." Lily nodded to her friends that she'd be alright, and then the two of them were left alone in the otherwise unoccupied Gryffindor common room.

There was a pause for a moment, as Lily looked at James. _Really _looked at him; as she never had before.

His dark hair was as messy as ever, and in desperate need of a trim – it flicked into his eyes so that he had to brush it out of the way every now and then. His eyes – those eyes that Lily had only fully appreciated recently – were the strange mixture of colours that somehow ended up hazel. There were dark circles under them; as though he'd either gone to bed too late or woken up far too early.

His expression was sober, his usual half-smirk absent... And he was looking just as intently at her as she was at him.

Lily blushed and looked away.

James coughed.

"Umm..." he said, ruffling his hair.

It would have been funny to see James-Bloody-Potter so tongue-tied, if she hadn't been in the exact same predicament.

"I'm sorry," they said simultaneously, and then looked at each other, startled.

"I didn't mean to..." they started again, and James shook his head, one corner of his mouth pulling up.

"We really have to stop doing that."

"Agreed," Lily said quietly, still looking at him.

James frowned. "Why are you staring?"

"I'm not," she said quickly. "It's polite to look at someone when you're speaking to them, Potter."

"Nah," James said, his smirk becoming more prominent. "It's my devilishly handsome features, right, Evans?"

"You wish," she gulped, trying not to look too interested in said features.

James' smile grew, and then faded slightly, "Why do we do this to each other, Lily?" he asked, his voice soft again.

Lily was taken aback by the serious turn in the conversation, and paused for a moment before answering. "Because you're Potter, and I'm Evans?"

"You're not supposed to answer a question with a question, you know..."

Lily glared.

"But yeah. You're right. We live to wind each other up, right?"

Lily tried not to look surprised at the sudden honesty of James' enquiries; so different from their usual banter.

"Right," she answered.

He was silent for a moment, and he studied her again. Lily could feel her face burning, but it was impossible to look away.

"I mean it, you know," he said finally.

"Huh?" she replied mindlessly.

James rolled his eyes. "It puzzles me how you can be so eloquent one minute, and the next..."

"Shut up," Lily said. "What were you saying?"

"Now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one..."

"_Potter..."_

"Alright, alright. I meant it when I said I was sorry. I am."

"So you didn't mean the things you said?" Lily asked.

James' face was conflicted for a moment. "Well... yeah. I did mean them. But you already knew that..."

She did.

"Apart from the part where I told you I hoped you and Snivilly would be very happy together. I-ah-didn't mean that bit. At all."

Lily smiled. "Good. Because I really don't want to do that."

James smirked. "You don't?"

"I don't," she confirmed. "And I'm sorry too. I... well, you only told the truth. I didn't."

James looked expectantly at her. "C'mon Evans, I'm waiting here," he said, but a soft smile spread his lips instead of the usual smirk.

"Bugger off, Potter," she said, biting her lip and forcing herself to meet his eyes. "You're not a bullying toerag anymore. Alright?"

James grinned. "More than alright."

He stepped closer to Lily, and her breath hitched. But before she could say – or do – anything, James was walking past her, saying: "Time for breakfast, Evans. Care to join me?"

Stupid, arrogant, smarmy, attractive _git._

_James-Bloody-Potter._

"If I must," Lily said, and followed him through the portrait hole.

* * *

><p>It might have been her imagination, but Lily could have sworn that her two best friends and Sirius Black exchanged amused looks when Lily and James arrived at breakfast.<p>

He'd been telling her a joke – something about the Bulgarian Quidditch team and a hag walking into a bar – and she was rolling her eyes at his futile attempts to make her laugh, whilst trying to hide her smile.

Somewhat unsuccessfully.

And then all of a sudden, James' expression sobered, and she followed his gaze to the Slytherin table. Mulciber, Avery and Snape were huddled on the end together, muttering and glancing at the length of parchment spread out between them. It seemed that the writing on it was visible only to the three of them, as Lily couldn't see any markings upon it.

She realised with a jolt that the bruises and cuts that James had inflicted upon Mulciber and Avery had disappeared.

Either the two class dunces had learnt some healing spells, or Severus had been helping out.

Probably the latter.

"What are they doing?" James muttered furiously – either to himself or to Lily. She couldn't tell.

"I don't know," she replied. "Now isn't the time. People are staring... _James._"

He looked like he was debating going over there – which was just about the last thing she wanted.

"They don't even look sorry..." he said, glaring at the oblivious Slytherins. "There isn't a mark on them... and it looks like they're planning something worse."

"Later," Lily said hurriedly. "We'll talk about it later."

She was distinctly aware of the stares of more and more of the pupils as she pulled James over to the Gryffindor table by the arm.

Alice gave her a 'you alright?' look as they approached, and Lily nodded. Alice and Marlene shuffled along the bench so that Lily could slide in next to them – which she did, rather gratefully.

She couldn't help noticing that James sat beside her rather than on the Marauders side of the table.

Apparently Sirius did too, as he raised his eyebrows.

"Lovers reunited, then?" he asked, barely wincing when Remus hit him on the back of the head.

James rolled his eyes. "Lily and I are friends again, yes."

Sirius sighed. "Shame. It was ever so peaceful in the common room when you two were holed up in your rooms..."

"Padfoot," Remus reprimanded, and Sirius childishly stuck his tongue out at his fellow Marauder.

"What, Moony? You don't agree?"

Remus considered. "Well... I suppose it was quieter without all the arguing and flirting..."

Sirius, Peter and Marlene roared with laughter.

"Moony!" James whined.

"Remus!" Lily said, in a similar tone of voice. "You're supposed to be on our side!"

Remus shrugged, grinning. "He raised a valid point."

"Alice?" Lily pleaded.

Alice giggled. "Sorry, Lils."

Lily looked at James, who was a little red-faced. She smiled; it was rare that James was the embarrassed one.

"What?" he asked, a hint of a smirk reappearing. "You're staring again, Evans."

"You're blushing," she grinned.

"I am not," James said.

"You are."

"It's hot in here!" he protested.

"Exhibit A," Remus muttered.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Severus Snape sat at the Slytherin table – Avery and Mulciber on either side of him. He'd found them in a sorry state the night before, unconscious in the middle of the Charms corridor. It'd been close to curfew, so it was lucky for them he'd been passing that way – else they might have been found by the prefects on duty.<p>

He'd patched them up well enough, but they'd still refused to tell him how they'd gotten such bad injuries.

Probably duelling with second-years again, the idiots.

And now, at the breakfast table they sat, reading through the list for what felt like the millionth time.

"What about Mary McDonald?" Avery said in a low voice. "D'you think we could get to her? She is a Gryffindor..."

"I dunno," Mulciber replied doubtfully. "What about Marlene McKinnon? He requested especially for her and Prewett..."

"What about Bones?" Severus suggested, thinking of the stern-faced Ravenclaw.

"What are we going to do with Evans and Potter?" Avery interrupted. "They're trouble."

Severus' breath caught in his throat.

He tried to maintain a distant expression as he replied, despite his panic. "No," he said, concentrating on exhibiting a calm aura, "No, we'll leave Evans... and Potter for now. We'll get some of the others first."

Mulciber looked inquiringly at him, and for a second Severus was worried he'd seen through his facade.

"On your head be it," the Death Eater said finally, and Severus inwardly sighed with relief.

He'd delayed the inevitable... for now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Pretty fast update!**

**I'd like to give a special thank you to 'iheartweasleytwins', who went through pretty much all of my stories, and reviewed on each one. Really – thank you. It made my day! **

**I hope you liked the chapter, and don't hate me too much for the cliffhanger ;) **

**If you like, you could leave a review and make a lowly fanfiction author happy!**

**Love always,**

**Abi**


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

Lily's nerves about having James, Mulciber and Avery in the same classroom for two hours still hadn't diminished completely.

If anything, the steely glares that the Head Boy was sending to the Slytherins was making her more worried than ever.

"Stop it," Lily said shortly, as they – accompanied by the Marauders, Alice and Marlene – walked out of the Great Hall.

"Stop what?" James asked, seeming genuinely puzzled.

"Don't give me that, Potter," she snapped, lowering her voice as she said the next part. "You know bloody well you've been glaring at... _them_ for the last ten minutes.

James' raised his eyebrows. "Jealous, Evans?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Stop being a pick. And stop staring at the bloody Slytherins."

"I thought you said that 'prick' was deeply ingrained into my nature?" asked the Head Boy, "If so, how could I possibly deviate from it?"

"That was a fifth-year insult," Lily replied. "I'm surprised you remember it."

"There was quite an influx around fifth year," James admitted. "But, coincidentally, I have an uncanny ability to remember every word you say."

Lily hoped desperately that she wasn't blushing, but when she looked at James again, he was grinning as if he knew all about her internal battle.

_James-Bloody-Potter._

"Why's Lily-flower blushing?" Sirius asked, speeding up to fall into step with them. "What did you say to make her blush this time, Prongs?"

"I am not blushing!" Lily exclaimed, her cheeks heating even more.

James and Sirius gave her matching raised eyebrows as a response. It was as if they'd choreographed it or something.

"Sod off, Black," Lily said.

"Me!" Sirius replied, outraged. "What about him?" he exclaimed, pointing to James.

"I've told him to sod off before. _It doesn't work._"

James saluted, smirking.

And Lily's heart rate sped up a little.

_Damn it._

"Favouritism, Evans?" Sirius asked; a twinkle in his eye.

Before Lily could come up with a response that was just the right amount of cutting, Remus intervened – he and Peter appearing at Sirius' side at the same time as Alice and Marlene appeared at Lily's.

"Leave the girl alone, Padfoot," Remus said.

Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus, and the latter replied in a similar manner.

It was difficult to remember that they were both seventeen, sometimes.

"Er... guys..." Peter said as they continued into the dungeon corridor, still walking seven-a-breast. "I'm kinda getting a little squished here," he said, as he walked into a stone pillar. "Ouch."

The others laughed, and rearranged themselves so that the Marauders were walking in front, with Alice, Marlene and Lily behind.

It wasn't long before the seven Gryffindors were lined up outside Slughorn's classroom in silence, the Slytherins occupying the opposite wall.

Lily stood on the Gryffindor side with a determined expression on her face – James on one side of her, and Marlene on the other. Alice stood next to Marlene – in conversation with Mary McDonald and Hestia Jones. On the other side of James, Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones were in conversation with Sirius, Remus and Peter about Quidditch, seemingly unaware of the animosity between the Lions and Snakes.

Next to Peter stood a couple of Hufflepuffs – Emily Macmillan and Jessica Abbott, who remained silent – as if scared of attracting attention.

Opposite were Sev... Snape, flanked by Avery, Mulciber and Crabbe. A few feet away from them were a group of Ravenclaws, who were muttering amongst themselves, and looking rather fearfully at the Slytherins. Which was odd for the Ravenclaws; they could usually handle themselves alright. Amelia Bones seemed to be the leader in the little group, and she was stood the farthest away from the Slytherins.

As Lily stared stonily at her attackers, James and Marlene doing the same either side of her, a few lines of the Sorting Hat's song from the beginning of the year played out in her head:

_Times are hard, but do not fear,_

_Because for me, all is clear. _

_Do not divide, or else you'll see,_

_Houses won't divide evenly. _

Rather cryptic for the Sorting Hat's song, but Lily thought she vaguely understood the meaning now.

It'd been warning them against this. Against the open rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin which had always existed... but now it was more serious.

Unforgivable Curse serious, it seemed.

Lily felt fairly secure with James and Marlene either side of her, but nevertheless, she was relieved when Slughorn called them into the classroom, and she could stop avoiding Severus' intense stare.

As they walked into the classroom in silence, James took hold of her hand briefly. Lily looked up at him, expecting the usual smirk or cocky grin, but it wasn't there. On the contrary, James' face was unusually solemn, as if he'd just made the same realisation Lily had. He squeezed her hand silently – his eyes conveying all the things he couldn't put into words; like a silent promise that they'd be okay.

And then, just as quickly as he'd taken her hand, he let go and slid into his seat beside Sirius.

* * *

><p>James was scared.<p>

_Scared._ He – James Potter.

It didn't happen very often, but right now, he was completely petrified.

And not for himself, either.

Seeing the Slytherins stare at Lily like that – like predators – had enraged a protective side of him that he'd desperately tried to hide. He knew that Lily could look after herself – that she didn't need him to be the 'big strong man'. She'd scoff at the idea, in fact.

Maybe that was one of the many reasons he was so infatuated with Lily Evans.

But the way that Avery and Mulciber had looked at her – like she was an ornament they'd love to add to their collection – made him shudder.

And Snape? Snape looked at her in exactly the same way as James did; which made him want to punch something.

Like Avery and Mulciber's faces again. That would be nice.

So, as they entered the classroom, he'd taken her hand. Not as a romantic gesture – although it wasn't strictly platonic either – but to let her know that he was there. That she wouldn't get hurt again on his watch.

An understanding had flowed between them as he'd looked down into Lily's green eyes. Things were getting serious. The divide was becoming more obvious than ever.

The Gryffindor vs Slytherin rivalry wasn't about House Pride anymore.

* * *

><p>Lily sat down beside Marlene, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. There was a different atmosphere in the air today – and Lily felt as if her wand should be drawn in self-defence.<p>

She didn't like the fact that she and Marlene sat at the front; for it meant that they couldn't see the Slytherins behind.

Lily didn't think Severus would hurt her... but she couldn't be so sure about his friends.

She was getting paranoid – they wouldn't attack in the middle of a Potions class, surely.

And she knew James would have her back even if they did. He and the Marauders sat at the back of the class – as usual.

Out of habit, she turned round and looked at him. He was ruffling his hair – no change there – but it seemed to be more out of stress than vanity this time. He looked up and met her eyes, and even across the room, the expression in them took her breath away.

It was difficult to look away when Slughorn started to speak.

* * *

><p>Lily was staring at Potter.<p>

_Again._

As often as Severus tried to tear his gaze away from Lily Evans, his efforts were futile.

He just couldn't help noticing every little thing that she did.

"Today, we'll be revising the Shrinking Solution!" Slughorn said with the kind of enthusiasm that only Professors and Hufflepuffs could possess first thing on a Friday morning.

Severus glanced over at the two solemn-faced yellow-tied students, and amended his thought. Only Professors could have this much enthusiasm on a Friday morning.

He heard Lily groan and whisper to McKinnon, and he fought expressing a smile. Of course Lily would be disappointed about having to brew such an easy potion.

"What're you smirking at?" Avery muttered suspiciously. Severus hastily drew his eyes away from Lily – and looked at the blackboard as if he had been doing so all along.

He didn't dignify Avery with an answer.

Bloody idiots – him and Mulciber both – trying to get to Bones first.

"Ingredients are in the cupboard, as usual," Slughorn continued, "Chop chop!"

Their master was not going to be happy. No matter. Severus could simply shift the blame onto his less intelligent companions.

Severus' main concern was keeping them away from Lily – and Lily's friends, if necessary. Because if they failed with her friends... if Lily found out... well, he knew she wouldn't keep quiet. And that would be lethal.

However, keeping attention away from Lily was going to be harder than he imagined if she kept making a spectacle of herself like that; glaring at Avery and Mulciber in the way she had.

Severus was certain that the great Gryffindor vs Slytherin standoff in the Potions Corridor was not going to help matters.

* * *

><p>The potion was ridiculously easy to make.<p>

Which, although it made the lesson tedious, was probably a good thing, because Lily wasn't really in the right state of mind to master a difficult potion.

"Lily," Marlene ventured, "I don't know if you're aware, but you've been staring at those pickled whelks for a full five minutes."

Lily snapped out of her daze immediately. "What? No I haven't."

Marlene grinned, and picked one out of the jar with her tweezers. "What did I, Mr Whelk, do to offend you, Lily Evans?" she asked in a deep voice – which Lily supposed was meant to be that of Mr Whelk.

"Gross, Marlene," Lily said, as Marlene brought the tweezers closer to her – making the slimy creature do a jive. "_Get that thing out of my face!_" Lily screeched.

Marlene laughed, and Lily's arm moved of its own accord, smacking Marlene's tweezers out of her hand, as well as the whelk... which just so happened to land on Professor Slughorn's desk.

Marlene burst into laughter, and Lily's hand covered her mouth, horrified.

"_Shit_," she muttered under her breath as Slughorn looked up.

"Whose is this?" he asked curiously, looking at the snail-like creature sat on his parchment.

Lily blushed. "Ah... that would be mine, Professor. I'm so sorry!"

Slughorn smiled kindly. "No matter, Lily, dear." He brought out his wand and vanished the vile thing, before returning to his marking.

"It's a good thing you're teacher's pet," Marlene said between giggles.

"Shut up," Lily replied.

Marlene snorted.

"So, shall we talk to Alice tonight?" Lily asked, still red in the face as she added the correct number of whelks to their potion.

"Alright. You sure you and Potter are done with your angst?"

"Shut it."

"_Touchy_," Marlene commented. "Are you sure you want to talk about _Alice's_ relationship when we _could_ talk about..."

"Don't finish that sentence if you want to retain full use of your limbs."

"_Very_ touchy," Marlene said, before Lily glared at her so venomously that she finally stopped talking.

* * *

><p>At eight that evening, Lily and Marlene were sat with Alice in their dormitory, sat on Lily's bed.<p>

"What's this all about?" Alice asked curiously. "Did something happen with James..."

"No," Lily said sharply.

Marlene smirked. "No, Alice dear. We just want to know if you're snogging Longbottom or not."

Alice went pink in the face. "What?" she said, "Why would you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Marlene said. "How about the way you're blushing the way Lily does whenever James Potter is brought into conversation?"

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but Marlene silenced her with a look.

Lily glared, before turning her attention back to Alice.

"And don't think we haven't noticed how you watch him every morning in the Great Hall..."

"And talk all lesson in Potions..." Marlene continued.

"And danced at the after-Quidditch party..." Lily said.

The other two turned to look at her, Marlene raising an eyebrow.

Alice opened her mouth to say something, but Lily talked over her quickly: "And you keep mysteriously disappearing every time he goes on Prefect Duty..."

Alice sighed. "Alright. I like him."

Lily grinned. Before she could exclaim about how adorable they were going to be, Alice continued.

"But I don't know if he likes me. He's just so smart, and brave – and he comes up with these funny comments, y'know? And I can't come up with anything funny to say back to him so I just smile like an idiot..." Alice sighed, and flopped onto her back. "I'm useless. I don't know how you do this flirting crap, Marl."

"Me?" Marlene said, frowning. "Why not Lily?"

"Oi!" Lily said. "You flirt with Black _all the time_."

Marlene considered. "I guess. It's just for fun though..."

"But _how_ do you do it?" asked Alice, exasperated.

Marlene considered. "Just be yourself," she said finally.

"Is that it?" Alice asked, looking unconvinced.

"Yeah," Marlene replied. "That, and wear low-cut tops at the weekend."

"Marlene!" Lily exclaimed, hitting her lightly on the arm.

Alice grinned. "I can do that."

Lily rolled her eyes, and then joined the other two in their laughter.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please don't attack me. **

**I am so sorry I took so long to update. I didn't even realise how long it had been until one of my friends on Tumblr pointed it out to me! Ahh! **

**If it's any excuse, I've had some personal stuff going on in my life so... fanfiction wasn't really my main priority. I also wrote a one-shot about Lily and James with Harry on his first day of school, had they not died. It's titled 'What Could Have Been', and is on my profile if you feel like checking it out. **

**Reviews make me not forget to update!**

**Love always,**

**Abi**

**P.S. Apologies for my crappy poetry.**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 16_

_Be calm, _Alice thought to herself as she walked between Lily and Marlene on the way to Potions. It was Monday Morning, Period three, and she'd spent the preceding weekend and double-Transfiguration lesson trying to figure out how to _flirt _with Frank Longbottom.

_Flirting._

She couldn't believe she'd let Marlene talk her into this.

Marlene and Lily were chatting amicably, but Alice did her best to block them out; to run through the plan again.

She'd start off with light conversation. _How was your weekend, Frank? _No, that was a stupid question – she lived in the same bloody tower as the bloke, for Merlin's Sake. What about... _How's the Quidditch going? _No, Frank would know that she knew nothing about Quidditch. The extent of her knowledge stretched to the basic rules.

And the uniforms; Alice could tell him quite a lot about those.

Alice felt a light pressure on her shoulder and turned, startled, to find Marlene grinning down at her.

"Calm down," she said.

"Calm?" Alice squeaked. She winced and cleared her throat before speaking again, "I'm perfectly calm. What is there to not be calm about?"

She could feel Lily wincing at the structure of that sentence.

"He's just a bloke," Marlene pointed out.

_Just a perfect, clever, funny, attractive bloke..._

"Yeah," Alice said absently, "Just a bloke."

Lily sniggered.

Alice frowned. She raised a hand to her hair – which Marlene had insisted on styling that morning. It was almost chin length now, but Marlene had done Merlin-knows-what with it – pulling at pieces, clipping and wrapping locks round her wand, and soon enough Alice had curly hair. Almost like those women with perms in the _Witch Weekly._

She'd always thought they'd looked like poodles.

Some hybrid of dog and mankind, perhaps.

Marlene slapped Alice's hand away from her hair for the fifth time that morning.

"Leave it," she said, glaring. "You're going to make the curls drop out."

_What a shame that would be._

"Marlene," Lily said, "It's her hair."

"Nuh uh," Marlene said, stopping in the middle of the Potions corridor to admire her handiwork. "It's my masterpiece – which happens to be sitting atop Alice's head."

Lily rolled her eyes, and dragged Marlene on by the arm, sending apologetic looks to a couple of Ravenclaws who'd almost walked into them.

Frank was already at the desk when Alice, Marlene and Lily entered the Potions classroom. Marlene winked at her before taking her seat beside Lily, in front, and Alice sat beside Frank, butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"Hi," she said in a surprisingly small voice. Out of their trio, Alice was always the loud one. Kind... but loud. Marlene was the blunt, sarcastic one, and although Lily had a rather sharp tongue too, it was usually reserved for James Potter. Otherwise, she was intelligent, but not obnoxiously so, and... well... _nice._

"Hi," Frank repeated, throwing her that slightly crooked smile.

Alice choked back the urge to say 'Hi' back to him again and instead said the first thing that popped into her mind.

"So, how was your weekend?"

_Damn it._

Luckily, Frank didn't seem to find the question odd. He looked at Slughorn quickly, who was still writing on the blackboard, before answering.

"It was good, thanks," he replied. "...yours?"

"Yeah, good," Alice replied. "You know... just spending time with the girls..." she gestured to the two in front, who were suspiciously quiet.

"Oh yeah, I saw you in the common room on Saturday."

Alice remembered; the team had just come back from practise. Frank had come in with James, Sirius, and Dorcas Meadowes – another chaser.

Marlene had said that Alice'd glowed green when she saw Frank and Dorcas having a conversation.

Which probably wasn't far off the truth; the girl was really pretty.

Alice was still forming a reply when Slughorn interrupted to start his lesson.

* * *

><p>"Can you hear anything?" whispered Marlene to Lily, who shushed her.<p>

Eavesdropping may be frowned upon, but in those circumstances it was completely necessary.

"They're talking about the weekend..." Lily whispered.

They fell silent to listen to the snippets of conversation they could catch, but Slughorn interrupted before they could get on to anything interesting.

Marlene turned her blue eyes on Lily. "Well, that was an anticlimax."

Lily smothered a laugh, and turned her attention to Professor Slughorn, like the straight-O student she was.

"Good morning, everyone!" the Potions Master greeted the class in a jovial tone, flicking his wand at the windows, so that they flung open.

There was a cough from the back of the classroom, and Lily turned around to the back of the classroom to see Sirius Black with his hand raised.

"Yes, Mr Black?" Slughorn asked, bemused.

"It's the afternoon, Sir," Sirius pointed out, tapping his watch.

Slughorn checked his own watch. "So it is, Mr Black, so it is."

James was smirking next to Sirius. Although Lily knew she should roll her eyes and look away – _that was what the old Lily Evans would do _– she desperately wanted to smile.

She managed to prevent it by biting down hard on her bottom lip, but James noticed. His smirk grew, and he winked.

Lily turned away, blushing. Naturally.

Bloody Hell.

"Good _afternoon, _class," Slughorn amended, with a nod at Sirius. "Today is going to be a theory lesson, I'm afraid..."

Predictably, the class groaned. Lily just about refrained from joining in.

"Yes, I know, I know," Slughorn said, shaking his head. "But the NEWT's are coming up fast now..."

_Like they needed more reminders._

"And it's important that you learn the theoretical ideas behind the potions you've learned to produce." He paused for a moment to extinguish a small fire that Mulciber had started on his desk, and threw him a disapproving look.

"Now chop chop. Start on page two hundred and thirty-one in your textbooks."

There was a flutter of pages, as students unwillingly turned to the right page.

Lily reached into her bag to grab her parchment and ink, and got to work.

That didn't last long.

She was rudely interrupted by a small piece of folded parchment, which floated from behind her onto her textbook.

She had an inkling of who was behind it before she even unfolded the parchment.

_**I'm really bored, Evans. **_

_**James x**_

Lily rolled her eyes, and tore a corner off her own parchment – James' message having been snatched by Marlene.

_Do some work then, Potter. _

_Lily_

She grabbed her wand, checked around for Slughorn – and deeming him sufficiently distracted by the complaining Slytherins, muttered a spell to make the note floated to the back of the room.

"Sending secret notes to Potter now, are we Lily?" Marlene asked, flicking the parchment back towards the redhead.

"Hardly secret," Lily pointed out.

Alice and Frank were still murmuring quietly. Lily turned around briefly to look at them, and was satisfied to note that they were closer together than typically appropriate for 'Just Friends'. She also saw the next note flying towards her.

James caught her looking, and grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes, and snatched the fluttering note out of the air.

_**But that would make me more bored, Evans. **_

_**Feel like ditching?**_

_**James x**_

_**P.S. Sirius wants to know if Alice and Frank are getting it on.**_

Lily sighed, and scribbled back her own:

_More bored, maybe. But necessary for your education, you prat._

_Is that a serious question? You are the Head Boy, I am the Head Girl; we are in a classroom with fifteen other students and a professor. I know it's in your nature, but don't be stupid. _

_Lily_

_P.S. Wouldn't we all._

James' reply fluttered back sooner than she expected.

_**I'm very offended, Evans. **_

_**You're forgetting something – I'm a Marauder. **_

_**Love, James x**_

_**P.S. Sirius would like me to tell you he'd put ten galleons on it.**_

_Yes, James. You are a Marauder. _

_Which means you are exceptionally prone to getting into trouble. _

_Lily._

_**I'm exceptionally good at **__**getting out**__** of trouble.**_

_**Love, James x**_

_I'm still not skipping class. And neither are you. _

_Lily._

_**What'cha going to do, Evans? Tell Slughorn?**_

_**Love, James xx**_

Lily couldn't help giving the parchment a half-hearted smile at that. He knew she wouldn't alert the teacher even if he were to sneak out – taking the Marauders with him, no doubt.

_Well, I'm simply concerned about your education, Potter._

_But no, I wouldn't. _

_Lily x_

Unfortunately, James never received that note, for Slughorn appeared at Lily and Marlene's table, and she didn't dare to send it.

The piece of parchment crumpled in her hand.

* * *

><p>At lunch, the Marauders didn't go down to the Great Hall. By unanimous agreement, they instead took the staircase down towards the Hufflepuff Common Room.<p>

They often did this whenever they didn't particularly want to be around other people. Sometimes when they were planning a prank, when they had something to talk about, shortly before or after a full moon – when Remus wasn't really up to socialising – and sometimes, just because they wanted to.

There were perks to knowing every nook and cranny of the castle.

"Go ahead, Sirius," James smirked when they reached the portrait. "Tickle the pear."

Sirius raised an eyebrow with a crooked grin, but didn't comment on James' innuendo as he opened the passage to the kitchen.

The portrait swung open and the Marauders stepped in.

They were immediately surrounded by house elves. Naturally.

"Master James, it is a pleasure!"

"Master Remus! Jami is delighted, sir. Would Master Remus like some of Jami's chocolate pudding?"

"Master Peter, Master Sirius!"

It was always a little overwhelming, but the boys were used to it.

They took their usual table, and the elves ran off to collect food.

"So, Prongs, we have a problem," Sirius said, as he accepted the bottle of Butterbeer handed to him by a passing elf.

"Problem?" James questioned.

Peter intervened.

"The next full moon. The full moon next week falls on a Tuesday."

"Ahh," James looked at Remus, who was looking down at the table – apparently fascinated in the wood. "Head Duty."

"You can't leave her alone again," Remus said, glancing up to meet James' eyes. "You'll have to stay here this month."

"No way." James said. "No chance, mate. Padfoot can't singlehandedly keep you away from the school." Seeing Remus wince, he added, "sorry."

Remus dismissed his apology with a shake of his head. "I know, James. I'll stay in the Shrieking Shack this month.

"No." James said immediately. He'd seen him after a night spent alone in the Shrieking Shack. Way back in first year, before they'd figured out his secret. If he looked bad after a full moon out in the open... well... cooped up he looked about ten times as bad – having spent the night scratching and biting himself.

He looked to Peter and Sirius for support.

"I can handle him," Sirius said, puffing out his chest.

"Don't be an idiot," Remus said tiredly.

Peter hesitated. "Prongs shouldn't leave Lily alone to do duty... not after last month..."

"So I'll stay in the 'Shack," Remus said. "Simple. You lot can get a decent night's sleep, too."

Sirius snorted. "Sleep. Sleep is for the weak."

Peter continued after his friends had quietened down. "But Remus shouldn't have to spend the full moon alone. What if James got someone else to do duty with Lily?"

James stared at Peter.

"Genius," he said finally, slapping him on the back.

Peter coughed, but looked pleased with himself.

"I'll get Lily to swap my schedule with someone for next week. Simple!"

"You've still got to find a decent excuse," Remus said, ever the pessimist. "That's two months in a row. Lily's a smart girl."

"He'll figure it out," Sirius said, brushing Remus' concerns aside. "Now let's eat," he said, seeing the approaching food.

* * *

><p>Lily, Alice and Marlene were lounging by the fire in the common room that evening, discussing the Potions lesson of that afternoon.<p>

Lily was sitting on her favourite armchair, Alice on the one opposite, and Marlene lying on the floor with her arms crossed behind her head – impervious to the stares she was attracting from the first years; who weren't quite so used to her eccentric mannerisms.

"So, did you flirt?" Marlene asked Alice, who blushed deeply.

"...I don't know. We just kind of... had a conversation?"

"_And..._" Marlene prompted.

"And I brushed my hand with his twice, and sat closer to him, just like you said."

"_And..."_ Marlene said again.

"And he asked me to study with him on Friday," Alice admitted, a smile pulling at her lips.

Marlene grinned, and was about to say something, when they were interrupted by none other than James Potter.

He looked nervous, which was strange for James.

He approached Lily, and tried for his usual crooked grin.

"Alright, Evans?"

"And we were talking about _Alice's _romantic ventures," Marlene muttered under her breath.

If James heard her, he didn't give any indication of it.

Lily kicked the arm that was rested nearest to her foot.

"Care to – uh – join me," James said, offering her a hand up.

Lily took it, muttered a "see you in a bit," to her smirking friends, and followed James out of the portrait hole.

He stopped on the seventh-floor corridor.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I – ahh –" James ruffled his hair. "I was wondering if I could swap schedules with anyone next week."

There was a sinking feeling in Lily's stomach, and she wasn't quite sure why. She recognised it though... disappointment.

"Why?" she asked, her green eyes narrowed. "We agreed not to mess around with the schedules."

"I-err-"

Lily waited for him to come up with a reason, and when he didn't, crossed her arms. "You can't just go shirking your responsibilities whenever you feel like it, Potter."

"Back to 'Potter', are we," he asked.

"You call me 'Evans'," she countered.

"When I'm flirting with you, yes," he said, smirking slightly again. "Not in hostility."

Lily could feel her cheeks reddening, and hastily diverted the conversation back. "All week?" she sighed, frowning.

James hesitated. "Just... Tuesday," he said.

"And you're not going to tell me why?" she asked, her anger dying.

He hesitated again. "I don't want to lie to you. There's a good reason."

Lily studied him for a moment. "Fine. I'll sort out someone to replace you."

James grinned, and surprised her by pulling her into a hug.

He smelled like pine – the same as he had the last time he'd hugged her at the after-Quidditch party. It felt different now though. She was far too aware of the way his hands pulled her in at the waist; how she was just the right height to rest her head against his shoulder... she could feel his abs through his thin school shirt...

And then he pulled away, leaving Lily feeling a little intoxicated, aching to be back in his arms.

Absently, she wondered what Fifth-Year Lily Evans would make of Seventh-Year Lily Evans.

"Thanks, Evans," he grinned.

"No problem," Lily said, as they began to walk back to the common room.

Maybe James wouldn't be quite so grateful if he knew the truth.

For Lily had no intention of finding another Prefect to go on duty with her.

She was ready to confirm her suspicions about what the Marauders were up to.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I really am sorry for the slow update. **

**I had the worst writers block ever... Siriusly (heh), I was attempting to write every night, but only came out with a few lines. But the block broke tonight, and I wrote half the chapter. **

**Anyway. **

**I hope you liked it! Thank you for your reviews – they mean a lot to me. **

**Let me know what you think :)**

**Love, **

**Abi**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Chapter 17_

Lily had never liked lying; it just wasn't in her nature.

Even as a kid, she'd never been able to bring herself to lie to Petunia. It would have made her life a lot easier; but when Tuney asked whether she'd been out playing with 'That Snape Boy' again, she'd have to admit she had.

And then Tuney would ignore her for a day.

As she got older, Lily still didn't develop the ability to lie – she had an irritating tendency to giggle or go bright red. She'd tried it a few times, telling Sev that she wished she'd been sorted into Slytherin, pleading with Petunia that she wished she'd never gotten her Hogwarts letter, and trying to convince her mother that she and Petunia weren't at loggerheads.

Needless to say, she'd been called out on every single one of these lies.

But right now, in the dimmed light of the common room, it was essential that Lily finally developed the art of deception.

"Huh?" she said before she could stop herself.

James grinned, his hazel eyes sparking. He was sat by the fire, leant back on his hands with his legs fully stretched out. Sirius and Marlene sat either side of him, and the surrounding chairs were occupied by Lily, Alice, Peter and Remus.

James looked particularly dashing that night. Perhaps it was the fire outlining his form in golden light, or the way his eyes didn't shift from hers. Maybe it was just because they were becoming closer and closer every day.

"I said: Have you found someone for Tuesday yet?" he repeated.

Lily was surprised that he'd brought the question up in company, seeing as he'd been so secretive when he'd asked her initially.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed Remus start slightly, but that was the only reaction the Marauders gave.

_Concentrate, Lily, concentrate. _

It was Sunday evening. She'd have to tell James that she'd found someone to cover for him. It had to be someone who he wouldn't disapprove of, but someone believable.

Trying not to think too much about it, Lily lied.

"Yeah," she started out confidently, "Michael Abbott agreed to do the Tuesday duty."

James frowned. "The Hufflepuff Fifth-Year Prefect?"

Lily rolled her eyes, smiling, "Sixth-Year, Mr Head Boy."

James waved his hand to dismiss her comment. He still looked troubled.

Lily's heart began to beat faster. Had he figured her out?

"Is that the one who fancies you?" he asked, seeming genuinely worried, apart from the smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth.

Lily could have laughed with relief, but instead opted for throwing a pillow at him.

He caught it, raising an eyebrow.

"Reflexes of a Chaser, Evans."

"Bighead."

"You don't say," Remus commented dryly.

James turned his attention to his friend, outraged. "You're supposed to be on my side, traitor!"

Sirius ruffled James's hair. "It's true, mate."

James slapped his hand away like a preteen girl, and messed up Sirius's hair in return.

Alice and Peter laughed, Marlene muttered "Boys," under her breath, and Lily simply rolled her eyes, and tried to stop the smile that was threatening to develop over their childish antics.

Boys, indeed.

When Sirius had finally pushed James off him, the latter turned to Lily – his hair even more tousled than usual.

"Thanks, Lily," he said genuinely.

So genuinely it made her twinge with guilt. She hoped it hadn't shown on her face; Lily was really _not _a natural liar.

"No problem," she managed to squeeze out.

Marlene was looking at her in that I-know-something's-up way and Lily scrounged for another topic of conversation. Luckily, her saviour arrived in the form of Frank Longbottom, who chose that moment to walk over and sit down on the floor between Sirius and Alice's chair.

Sirius greeted him with a vigorus thump on the back (which Lily was impressed he didn't wince at), and Alice said, "Hi, Frank!" in her usual confident tone. Apparently she was getting better at the whole talking-to-Frank thing.

The now eight Gryffindors continued with their conversation with no further mention of Prefect Duties.

Frank and James, inevitably, struck up the topic of Quidditch.

"We slaughtered Slytherin," James said, with a touch of arrogance. Lily would never have admitted it, but it was slightly endearing.

"Yeah," Frank said. "And Hufflepuff beat Ravenclaw narrowly."

The Hufflepuff Vs Ravenclaw match had commenced on the last Saturday of November.

"Yeah, the Ravenclaw's team really isn't looking great. I saw them practise the other night. It's that idiot Kelp captaining this year. Merlin knows why he was picked – got the whole team practising second-year moves, he has."

"So likelihood is, they'll lose to Slytherin," Frank reasoned.

"Which shouldn't have any impact on us," Sirius commented.

Alice yawned.

"And then we're playing Hufflepuff in February," James carried on relentlessly, in full Captain Mode now.

It was fascinating to watch – Potter with a purpose.

"Who already have a win under their belt," Frank said.

James waved this off, "Our win against Slytherin was much higher in... pointage."

"Pointage?" Lily intervened, one eyebrow raised. James made a shush sign at her and winked.

And so it continued, ending predictably with James concluding that there was no possible way the Gryffindor team could lose.

Lily didn't have the heart to correct him with probability and such, as she would have once. Quidditch was his _thing. _And for all his faults, James Potter ran a bloody good Quidditch Team.

Not that she'd ever tell him that.

* * *

><p>The days passed far too slowly, and Lily had far too much time to think about the morality of what she was doing.<p>

James _trusted _her not to prod him for information, but yet she was planning to do something that was undeniably worse; spying.

_Spying._

Maybe she would have been better off in Slytherin. She could see Severus pulling something like this.

And then there was the thought of what had happened last time she'd done duty alone, and how James would feel if something happened to her again. It had nearly ripped apart their friendship the first time.

Funny that she should think of James Potter's reaction to her being attacked, rather than the fact that she _had been. _Lily fully supported the feminist movement still fighting for rights in the muggle world, but her way of thinking around this subject was so undeniably chauvinist that she disgusted herself briefly. Lily just couldn't help it.

Because the truth was... she really did like James Potter. She couldn't deny that any longer. And it would kill her if she were to lose his friendship... or anything else they had going on.

Which only added to Lily's moral dilemma.

Alice and Marlene noticed that she was increasingly lost in thought these days, as best friends would, but Lily managed to pass it off as N.E.W.T. stress.

Well, she thought she had, anyway.

"What's going on with you?" Marlene asked her in the Charms Lesson of Tuesday morning.

Yes; _the _Tuesday. Tuesday 6th December, 1977. Prefect Duty was that evening... it was make or break time.

Lily jumped, retrieved from her familiar train of thought. "What?" she said.

"Don't give us that," Marlene continued, relentless as ever. "We've been over this. We don't hide things from each other, and we don't have to _tickle _them out."

Alice nodded her agreement, stroking the rat they were supposed to be giving the ability to breathe fire. "Spill."

Lily gulped, thinking uncomfortably of Marlene's mean Titillando hex and wondering whether she'd succumb to the torture. She hoped she had more willpower than that.

"I'm fine. Just... you know... exam anxiety."

Alice shook her head, frowning, which made her short hair bounce around her face. "I know what it is, Mar," she said, looking at Marlene.

Lily's heart jumped into her throat. There was no way they could know. But one should never underestimate the truth-determining power of best friends.

"Hmm," Marlene said. "Are you thinking the same as I am, Alice?"

"Lily's thinking about a certain Quidditch Captain..." Alice said mischievously.

"With tousled black hair," Marlene continued, grinning.

"Shining hazel eyes,"

"Slightly cocky attitude..."

Lily snort-laughed at that, producing an interesting noise. "_Slightly?"_

Marlene and Alice looked at each other triumphantly, and Lily realised her mistake too late.

"You fancy James Potter!" Alice said a little too loudly, which caused Lily to whip round to look at the desk at the back of the class. Mercifully, the Marauders were otherwise occupied trying to stop their rats from barbequing each other.

"Quieten it down a little bit, Alice," Lily sighed.

"You're not denying it," Marlene pointed out. "For once."

Lily bit her lip. She'd been telling a lot of lies recently.

"Yes," she said finally, her voice only a whisper, "yes, I fancy James Potter."

Her friends satisfied, they grinned and turned their wands back on the white rats.

Lily was surprised at their lack of reaction. But then, she supposed, they'd been expecting this for months.

_Did _she fancy James? _Potter? _Did she really like him in that way?

She liked him, of course. They'd been friends for months now. Since the end of September. Three months. Was it possible that her opinion of the boy had changed that radically in three months?

Lily's mind called out a resounding answer, but she was still thinking.

He'd matured. That was why.

But had he?

Certainly, he'd stopped hexing people for nothing. And he'd stepped up to the responsibility of Head Boy in a way she'd never thought possible.

Maybe she'd just started seeing some of the good aspects of James's personality, no longer tied to thinking of him as a pretentious prat, after spending so much time with him throughout the duration of their joint headship.

Merlin, what was going on in her head?

* * *

><p>Lily was still uncertain of what she was going to do as she bade goodbye to her friends and left the common room that evening.<p>

James had left a few minutes previously with Remus.

Conveniently, Lily's duty was to be down the seventh floor corridor for the first hour and a half, and down the Charms Corridor on the third floor for the second half. Both had a view overlooking the grounds.

Inadvertently, Lily had already made her decision. She would watch the Marauders and find out what they were up to, however much her conscience screamed at her to leave them be.

She patrolled down the Seventh Floor, kicking couples out of classrooms, checking to make sure no first or second-years were out of their dormitories... the usual duties. Except this time she made sure to keep an eye on the Common Room. Strangely, she didn't see Peter and Sirius exit the common room, but she was certain she must have missed it.

Where one – or in this case two Marauders went, the others usually followed close behind.

Lily kept an eye on the windows, and thought she glimpsed sight of a figure of a teenage boy being led by a woman in white in the direction of the Whomping Willow. She only saw this briefly, however, and didn't have much time to dwell on it, for at that moment she was interrupted by a couple of rebellious Gryffindor first-years.

"Oh shit! That's the Head Girl, Gareth!" came a loud whisper from down the corridor, and Lily tore her eyes from the window immediately, cheeks flaming.

She spotted them immediately, Gareth Smith and John Humber. Gryffindor first-years; they were well known for mischief making in their year. It was rumoured that they were being coached by the _legendary _Marauders to carry on their legacy after the originals had left. In truth, Lily suspected that Gareth and John had spread the idea.

"You should be in bed," she snapped, humiliated that she'd been caught spying, even if they'd have no idea of that. "It's far past the first-year bedtime."

Gareth looked insolently back at her, and John started off cockily, "At home I've stayed up much later than this!"

He did remind her of a certain Marauder in his younger days, that one.

"I don't care," she said. "Bed. Now. And ten points from Gryffindor."

They sent her dual glares and scurried off, leaving Lily wishing she had that strange map James had produced once, to make sure they actually got back to the common room.

Out of the blue, a flashback of one of their first duties came back to her; the one and only time she'd seen that map.

_James pulled out a seemingly blank sheet of parchment, and tapped it with his wand, muttering words too quietly for Lily to hear. "...what are you doing?" she asked._

_"Just checking the scumbags made it to their common room," he replied._

_Lily moved round to watch over his shoulder._

_"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" Lily asked._

_"Old friends of mine," James replied with a wry smile. Lily didn't bother to get him to explain, since it was evident that he wouldn't._

How had she not understood that before? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. That was what the Marauders called each other. It was _their _map.

That made sense.

Lily continued up the corridor, glancing out of every window as she passed.

But why the nicknames?

_Moony._

Lily looked out at the full moon, glowing in the navy sky... and realisation dawned on her.

It matched her theories. Why he disappeared each month. The reason he'd ducked out of human transfiguration that time in McGonagall's class, and the reason the Professor had let him leave so easily. Remus couldn't be part of a human transfiguration; it wouldn't work on him.

Poor Remus.

* * *

><p>The time passed, and soon Lily was walking down the unusually quiet Grand Staircase to the third floor.<p>

It was getting late. This was usually the loneliest part of duty; when everyone else had gone to bed. Lily remembered it well from the previous years.

She hadn't had that problem since she'd started patrolling with James. As cliché as it sounded, his jokes and smiles made the whole experience more interesting.

But now Lily was by herself, deep in thought.

If 'Moony' meant what she thought it did, then what did the other nicknames imply? Did Peter have a secret addition to his anatomy? Did Sirius tread particularly lightly on the ground? She didn't even want to think about what James's might mean.

It was toward the end of her duty, as the clock neared midnight and the moon hung high and bright in the sky that Lily finally hit on the correct explanation.

She'd reached the end of the Charms corridor, and was looking absently out of the window. Not looking, really, just thinking.

It was trivial, compared to the situation she should be worrying about, but she couldn't help it.

_Did she really like James Potter?_

It was fated that this question would not be answered until a while later, for at that moment, Lily saw a something that sufficiently distracted her.

Illuminated by the moon, a giant wolf streaked across the edge of the forbidden forest with frightening speed.

Lily had hardly caught her breath when she saw the company the creature was keeping.

A stag, broad and majestic, pranced across the edge of the woods, as if in a race with a large, black, glossy-furred dog. There was something on the head of the dog that might have been a small creature. A rat or a dormouse, maybe.

Everything slotted neatly into place, as Lily watched the stag break off the race to herd the wolf back towards the forest.

She'd been right: Moony was Remus. The wolf. _Werewolf. _

Lily knew Remus would hate to be an attraction of sympathy, but it was a heavy blow to Lily that her fellow Gryffindor Prefect of two years had to live with that heavy burden. No wonder he was always tired and pale.

Wormtail. He'd be the little animal that was scurrying of Sirius's head now. Strange to think, but that dog _had _to be Sirius. Padfoot – honouring the dog's large paws, she assumed. Come to think of it, the fur did look similar to the hair that Sirius was so proud of.

And that meant...

The stag disappeared into the forest, his friends following behind. It was only then that Lily noticed the shallow claw marks marking the back of his shoulder and across his cheek.

_Prongs._

* * *

><p>It seemed to James that Moony was getting more vicious every month. Already he'd clawed James's stag body once tonight, and it wasn't even the early hours yet.<p>

It was winter, James supposed. Remus was at his worst when the nights got longer, for he inhabited his wolf mind for longer stretches of time.

James poked Remus with his antlers as the wolf tried to turn back towards the school. It was surprising that his stag-brain could feel jealousy, but he couldn't help wondering how Lily was getting on with that Hufflepuff bloke.

Hopefully not too well. Still, he'd prefer that she be with someone – albeit an overly-friendly male – than doing duty alone, though. After last time, he couldn't bear to think about the consequences that could bring.

* * *

><p>Lily's duty finished, but she didn't go back to her dorm. She trusted that her roommates had all fallen asleep by this time.<p>

She wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway.

Instead, she made her way back up the Charms Corridor, and across to the Library.

The smell of old, dusty books always calmed her. Sometimes, when she was alone, Lily would pick up a book and sniff at its pages.

She wouldn't do it around anyone but Alice and Marlene; who were already accustomed to her strange habits. But books smelt so good.

The Hogwarts Library seemed even larger when it was empty. It was strange to see no stern-faced librarian sitting at the desk, for each and every one of the study-tables to be unoccupied, and for there to be no students rifling through the bookshelves.

The library was entirely deserted but for Lily, who reached the Transfiguration section and started looking through the books there, searching for the right one.

Ahh. _The Art of the Animagi. _Perfect.

Lily sat down at one of the tables, and put the book out in front of her.

She stared at it for a moment, eyes roaming over the gold emboss of the title, before opening to the back of the book, and running a finger down the index until she got to the right section.

_Werewolves – 299, 348, 444._

Lily flicked to 299 first, hoping that she was right and that no harm could come from a werewolf bite to a wizard in Animagus form. True, the Marauders had a reputation for being reckless and stupid, but she hoped they weren't _that _excessively so. She doubted Remus would have allowed it.

_An Animagus in the form of a wolf can often be mistaken as a werewolf, but there are a few distinct signs to be able to tell them apart..._

Nope. She flicked to page 348.

_Animagus Defulus Fletcher found himself in a sticky situation with the townspeople when he happened to transform into his wolf form in the middle of Diagon Alley! Luckily, he managed to transform back before..._

Not that either. That was just about some poor bloke who got mistaken for a werewolf.

Page 444 it was, then.

_It has been noted that although our minds stay entirely human, when one transforms into their animagus form, there are a few advantages physically. During the plague of the nineteenth century, it was recorded that a record number of witches and wizards attempted to become animagi to escape disease in their animal forms. Of course, not many succeeded, for it takes most people years to learn the art! Similarly, it has been noted that animagi are impervious to the werewolf bite; although it takes longer than a normal injury to heal, it does not prompt any transformations. _

Lily let out a breath that she wasn't aware she'd been holding in.

The Marauders weren't stupid then. Reckless – but not stupid.

* * *

><p>James and Sirius guided Remus back to the Whomping Willow, as the moon began to sink in the sky. He'd make a guess that it was around five in the morning. Remus's transformation would begin soon. It was strange; he was never that tired at this time. Not in his stag body. It would hit him later, probably in Transfiguration.<p>

It's not like it would be the first time he'd fallen asleep in Transfiguration.

In the well-practised routine, Wormtail bounded forwards on his little legs to hit the knot on the tree. It froze, as always, and the werewolf was herded around the large branches and into the passage.

* * *

><p>Lily was waiting in the Entrance Hall for the Marauders.<p>

She'd spent the night in the library, reading up some more on Animagi, and eventually ended up falling asleep on one of the books.

When she'd awoken, the view out of the window hadn't been as dark as it was, so she'd roused herself. She had a plan.

She was going to confront the Marauders in the Entrance Hall as they came in. She _needed _to talk to them. And there was no way she could mention Remus's condition in public. That was a given.

So there she was. Lily had been standing in the Entrance Hall for half an hour now, and was going over in her head what she was planning to say.

She hadn't gotten far. There was no way she could reprimand them though. In fact, Lily had a new admiration for the three Marauders who had made such an effort to make life better for their friend – even at great personal risk.

She still hadn't come up with a script when James, Sirius and Peter entered the Entrance Hall. They stopped as still as statues.

James's eyes widened immediately. Lily's heart beat double time.

"Evans..." he said uncertainly. "You alright?"

Lily said nothing, but took several steps towards him; hardly in control of her own actions. He took a step back towards the wall.

She took a moment to look at the other two. Peter looked petrified, Sirius somewhere between amused and worried for the safety of his best mate.

But it was James that she was interested in now.

"I _know_," she said simply.

Lily was close to him now. So close that she could hear the breath catch in James's throat at her words.

He looked urgently at his two friends. Evidently, they weren't much help, because he turned back to Lily after a few seconds.

She looked at him for a few seconds, a smile developing slowly on her face. He looked tired, black shadows under his eyes, his skin slightly paler than usual. His dark hair fell onto his forehead, and it took everything she had not to reach up and brush it back.

James Potter was one of a kind.

"You know... what?" he said nervously, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Really, Potter?"

A hint of his old smirk returned.

"I'll spell it out, then," she said, paying no attention to the other two Marauders. "Remus is a werewolf."

James neither admitted nor denied it, but his hazel eyes sparkled a little more, as if impressed that she'd worked them out.

"And you're all Animagi," she continued, pointing to where Peter and Sirius were, without shifting her eyes from James's, and then unexpectedly laying a palm on his chest.

She was pleased to note that he looked a little scared, as she pushed him slowly backwards into the wall.

"Prongs the Stag," Lily said. "And that's Wormtail the Rat and Padfoot the Dog over there. Am I wrong?"

James's amusement at her charade seemed to win out over the fear of being hexed as she continued to stare into his eyes. Brown, with flecks of gold and green.

Lily remembered the first time she'd realised his eyes weren't brown; after he'd brought back her quill after Potions...

He was smirking again now. Nothing dented his confidence for long.

"You're not wrong," he said. "And I'd be very interested to know how you figured all that out, Evans."

Lily smiled. "You're so stupid," she said, lifting her hand to run her fingers over the fresh scratches on his face. "Stupidly brave. Insane. Infuriating."

He smiled a little wider.

And then, somehow, she just _did it._

Lily Evans strung her arms behind James Potter's neck and reached up so their faces were mere millimetres away.

She saw those beautiful hazel eyes close-up for a brief second before she closed her eyes.

Lily was faintly aware of Sirius wolf whistling as her lips touched James's.

Their lips moved rapidly; years of frustration, anger and attraction rising to the surface. Her hold around his neck tightened, pulling him impossibly closer, at the same time that his hands gripped her waist. She could feel him smiling against her lips.

At that moment, all of her questions were answered.

Of course she fancied James-Bloody-Potter.

Of course she did.

And the kiss? It was just as fantastic as she'd anticipated it would be.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: You have no idea how long that has been planned out. The original idea came during the writing of Chapter 4, and I've been harbouring it since then. It feels SO GOOD to **_**finally**_** write it! **

**Secondly, this chapter is dedicated to Kirstin, whose birthday it is tomorrow, and who's been waiting for this kiss for so long. Happy Birthday!**

**Thirdly, this is a VERY long chapter. I hope you liked it!**

**Fourthly, Thank you so much for your reviews on the last chapter, and for those who apologised for writing long reviews, don't! I **_**love**_** long reviews – they're the best kind. I really like to know what you guys think!**

**Fifthly, this list is getting quite long. **

**Sixthly and/or finally: **_**please**_** let me know what you thought of this. This chapter really means a lot to me. **

**Cookie for the person with the longest review!**

**Lots of Love,**

**Abi**


	18. Epilogue

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. All rights go to JK Rowling/Warner Bros. I do not profit in any way.**_

_Epilogue_

On the twenty-fifth of July, 1979, Lily woke to the sound of wedding bells.

Or maybe it was just her alarm clock.

She still wasn't used to that damn thing.

Yawning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes on the back of her hand, looking round her little room. It was still a luxury to have a room to herself, after sharing with four girls for the past seven years. She'd grown quite fond of the flat in which she and Marlene had been living for the past year.

Lily's room was painted a sickly lavender colour which she hadn't been able to change, as they were only renting. James had suggested a colour-change charm, but Lily had explained that the muggle landlord often popped round – she didn't want to alarm him; Mr. Lloyd was a nice man.

It was among her first conscious minutes thinking about nonsense like the colour of paint, that Lily remembered she'd just spent her last night in Flat 2A.

* * *

><p>Lily and James had gotten together shortly after their first kiss on the night of the full moon, little to the surprise of their friends – but perhaps to the mild disbelief of the Hogwarts Population.<p>

For weeks afterwards, Lily had had to endure the questionings of curious students and malicious Slytherins alike; asking if she was _really_ going out with James Potter.

It got rather wearing – needless to say, but Lily cared less than she thought she would.

Because the truth was that Lily was really, truly happy with James. They still fought as they always had, of course... but that was just their dynamic. It would be boring if they didn't.

But while Lily was growing steadily happier as a result of her relationship with James, in other areas of her life, matters were getting worse.

Muggleborns began to be attacked within the castle. Every day, more and more students were escorted to the Hospital Wing, suffering from the effects of various curses.

Lily and James – as the Head Boy and Girl – were called to Dumbledore's office more often. He updated them on things that were going on outside Hogwarts, and asked them to be on watch for suspicious behaviour. They were to be an example to the student body.

One meeting in the dead of winter, Dumbledore gravely informed them that students were being approached to join the Death Eaters from within the castle.

When the Professor explained that Amelia Bones and some of her follow Ravenclaws had been the first asked, their odd behaviour towards the Slytherins in Potions made more sense.

"They said no?" Lily asked.

"They did," Dumbledore confirmed. "But they won't be the only ones approached." He looked gravely at both of them, before he continued. "I believe in time, Miss Evans, both yourself and Mr. Potter will be asked to join up."

Despite Lily's doubts – she was sure that they wouldn't want a Mudblood in their company –Dumbledore was right.

Both James and Lily were sought out separately throughout their last year of Hogwarts. James, first, was approached during a visit to Hogsmeade, by Lucius Malfoy.

Lily was approached shortly after James, by none other than her childhood friend, Severus Snape.

"Please, Lily," he'd said, almost desperately as they stood feet apart in an abandoned classroom. "They can protect you. You'll be safe. Please."

Lily had looked at him as though he were worth less than the scum on the bottom of her shoe. "I'm a Mudblood, Severus. Had you forgotten?"

Snape closed his eyes briefly and lowered his face towards the floor.

"You're talented," he said finally, in a lower voice. "He's willing to overlook your..."

"My filthy blood?" Lily supplied, glaring. "How generous of him."

"Lily-"

"Get lost, Snape. Haven't you got some Mudbloods to torture? That's what the mark on your arm means, right?" Lily wasn't certain he'd been branded, but the way Snape automatically clutched his left forearm in his right hand confirmed her suspicions.

"Thought so," she said, the anger draining from her voice. "I don't know who you are anymore, Sev." Sadness coloured Lily's tone, as much as she tried to hide it. She'd truly lost her childhood best friend; they were on different sides of a war now.

Snape took a step closer at the renewed use of his childhood name, and opened his mouth to speak, but Lily took a step back towards the door.

"Just... leave me alone," she said, glancing over him once more – noting the hurt expression, before she left the room, shutting the door behind her, and leaving Snape alone with his thoughts.

But following Lily and James's rejection of the Death Eaters' offers, they weren't left alone in the slightest. James and Lily were attacked by Slytherins in corridors on a regular basis, and the abuse shouted at Lily became more and more violent in nature.

Towards the end of the year, Dumbledore called Lily, The Marauders, Alice, and Marlene into his office for a meeting. He explained the purpose of the summoning almost straight away; he'd formed a secret society fighting against the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, and was wondering whether they'd like to join.

All seven had immediately agreed.

The seventh-years' leaving was bittersweet. In some ways, Lily was glad it was time to go. She wanted to be out of school; to finally be allowed to join the resistance... she wanted to fight. But at the same time, it was scary. She wouldn't be going back to her parents' house, other than to pick up the few things she'd left behind. Lily and Marlene had decided to move in together – Lily didn't want to live with her parents if she was fighting a war. She didn't want to bring them further into the world where she was a target.

James had suggested that they move in together, but Lily was hesitant. It was too early in their relationship for them to share living space, she'd said. As much as she loved him (for she soon came to realise this), she'd prefer to move in with her friend for now.

Alice and Frank, however, had different ideas. A month after they'd left school, Lily and Marlene were bridesmaids at their best friend's wedding.

As time went on, the war became more and more brutal. Every member of the Order had their fair share of injuries from Death Eater attacks, but murders were becoming more frequent events.

However, in early July, just as she was settling into her new flat, Lily harshly reminded that Death Eaters weren't the only problem she faced. She received an owl from her mother, sadly telling her that her father had recently been diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Lily's mum had informed her it wasn't a direct threat to his life, but it was progressing quickly. Likely, he would be using crutches within a few months.

Throughout it all, James was Lily's constant source of support. No matter how many scraps they got into – how worn down they were; how tempting it was to give up, the other was always there.

So when James popped the question in the May of 1979, Lily barely hesitated.

* * *

><p>"Lils?" Marlene asked, popping her head round the door to the sickly-coloured room. When she saw Lily awake, sitting up in bed, staring into space with a small smile on her face, Marlene chuckled.<p>

"Come on, Evans," she said, grabbing a pillow from Lily's bed and whacking her round the head with it. "Alice will be here in-" she checked her watch, "-twenty-three minutes."

Lily laughed and poked her tongue out as her best friend retreated from the room.

She sighed and stood up, grabbing her dressing gown from the hook on her door, and throwing it on over her pyjamas. She stood at her dressing table for a couple of moments, examining her face, the spattering of freckles across her nose.

Lily glanced briefly at the dress hanging on her wardrobe door, grinning, before following Marlene out of the room.

She'd only just gotten out of the shower when Alice arrived.

"Good morning, Mrs. Potter," Alice grinned as Lily opened the door.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Not yet. But good morning, Mrs. Longbottom... that is an awful name, you know. Poor Frank."

Alice made a face at the almost-Mrs. Potter, and the latter laughed and swung the door open to admit her friend.

Alice frowned. "Security questions!"

Lily frowned. "I keep forgetting those stupid..." at Alice's quelling look, Lily added, "And would you really be reminding me if you were a Death Eater?"

"Lily."

"Fine. Whatever. My first kiss?"

"Eddie Wellborn. Fifth Year," Alice replied promptly. "Mine?"

"Michael Welsh – Third Year."

"Officially not a Death Eater, then," Lily commented as Alice stepped into the flat.

"Nope," she said. "But it's always worth checking. Moody says-"

"Oh don't start banging on about bloody Auror Training," Lily said. "Come on, Marlene's dying to pull half my hair out with that curling spell she's so fond of."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, and Lily was metaphorically tied onto her dressing table stool – Marlene curling Lily's red hair around her wand, and Alice dabbing all sorts of products onto her face.<p>

Lily was torn between excitement and anxiety.

She hadn't seen James since the previous morning, and was painfully aware of the fact. It was pathetic really, but she missed him. They'd been together almost all the time since leaving Hogwarts and joining the Order – whether it had been at her flat, his, or on a dangerous mission hunting down murderous Death Eaters.

Lily smiled at that thought; they might not have a normal relationship, with normal circumstances. Neither of them had taken what anyone could call a 'normal' job. They didn't have normal friends. James's lot transformed into animals every month, and Lily's friends were hardly the model of sanity.

But that was okay. It was alright.

More than alright, actually, thought Lily, as she winced at Marlene yanking at another lock of her hair. It was more than alright – the relationship between she and James. It was extraordinary; passionate, heated, funny, loving, exasperating.

She wouldn't change it for the world.

"Time to get into the dress, Lils," Alice said finally, looking her over with a grin. She brought the white garment bag over, and lay it out on Lily's bed, before she and Marlene exited the room – presumably to change into their own dresses.

Lily unzipped the bag slowly and stepped into the dress – James Potter still inhabiting her every thought.

The dress was beautifully simple. White lace fell to Lily's feet, plain other than the beading at the sweetheart neckline of the dress. It clinched in at her waist, extenuating her curves.

Lily looked at herself in the mirror, a small smile set on her face. She was marrying James Potter. Lily Evans was about to take his surname.

She was so ready.

* * *

><p>It had been James's idea to hold an outdoor ceremony – knowing that Lily adored being outside in the summer air.<p>

The rain wasn't part of his plan.

"I can't believe this," he muttered to Sirius as they stood in the gazebo the Marauders had constructed between them. He ran a hand through his hair out of habit; watching the rain pour down outside, before realising that he'd spend Merlin knows how long trying to flatten it down.

"Bollocks," he said, trying in vain to smooth the mane.

Sirius chuckled. "Calm down, mate," he said, brushing down his black dress robes for non-existent dust. "She's going to marry you – rain or no rain."

"The ceremony's taking place under here, anyway," Remus said, appearing at James's left side from where he stood at the top of the isle. "What does it matter if it's raining out there?"

The three men stood at the top of the isle, looking down at their few guests. Sirius had nominated Peter to offer drinks to the guests, and at that moment, he was trying to back away from a large bloke James knew to be Vernon Dursley, who was looking rather red in the face. Lily's long-necked, blonde haired sister Petunia sat beside her husband, looking rather unimpressed at whatever Peter had done to offend Vernon.

Apart from Lily and James's parents, and Lily's sister and brother-in-law, the rest of the Order had come to witness their marriage (although some were stationed around the exit), along with Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Slughorn.

"I just want it to be perfect for her, y'know," James said finally, still looking absently into space with a small smile, "I don't want her dress to get wet, or her shoes to be stained in the mud... or..."

Sirius snorted, leaning back to confer with Remus behind James's back. "_Stained shoes_."

Remus grinned. "I think we knew he had it bad around the time of his serenading her in the Great Hall. You know. Valentine's Day-"

"Fifth Year," Sirius finished with a chuckle. "Forgot about that one. Thanks, Moony. I'll have to add that into the Best Man's spe-"

"Is that a car?" James said suddenly, standing up straighter. He signalled Peter with a whistle, and gestured towards the flimsy window of the gazebo with an urgent look.

Peter looked over, and then back at James, with wide eyes and a nod.

James grinned, messing up the back of his hair again, and not caring in the least.

Remus left James and Sirius with a thump on the shoulder to the groom, and retired to his place in the front row. Peter settled down beside him, looking extremely grateful he was away from Lily's brother-in-law.

The music started up – Fabian Prewett, another Order Member, playing the Grand Piano he'd transfigured from a matchbox.

Delby Twitching would be conducting the ceremony – a small wizard with a head of frizzy grey hair, a modest beard to match, and a pair of spectacles sitting on a slightly elongated nose. He was a friend of Dumbledore's, who'd deemed him safe to be in an enclosed space with defenceless muggles. You never could be too careful these days.

James had also thouroughly checked the man's identity upon arrival – no way in hell was he going to have a disguised Death Eater ruining Lily's day.

All thoughts of Delby Twitching and Fabian Prewett were effectively wiped from James's mind when the gazebo opening fluttered open a little.

"Sirius," James said, smile still impossibly wide, "Am I dreaming, or am I _really _about to marry Lily Evans?"

Sirius laughed. "I think you're dreaming, mate. I think I am too."

"Nice dream," James said weakly.

* * *

><p>"This is it, Lils!" Alice said for the third time as they approached the big white gazebo the boys had erected.<p>

Lily had wanted to arrive by car – she wanted her wedding to somehow link to the muggle world, and the shiny white mini made the perfect method of transport.

They arrived on the field on the grounds of the Potter residence with perfect timing, and the butterflies in Lily's stomach fluttered more than ever.

She did look beautiful; with her long white dress, elaborately curled red hair and blushing cheeks. Her green eyes sparkled in anticipation.

The driver helped her out of the car, and Lily helped her father out. As they walked across the grass to the large white structure, Marlene and Alice took hold of the bottom of her dress to prevent it trailing on the ground.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped for a few minutes, but Lily's high-heeled shoes still squelched as she made her way to the opening of the gazebo.

She didn't care.

Lily's father took hold of her arm, and the music started playing.

Brian Evans grinned widely as he opened the flap with the arm not using his crutch, allowing his daughter to enter.

Lily looked at him before she stepped through the opening. "I love you, Dad," she said, smiling.

"I love you too, honey," Brian replied, the redheaded man quickly kissing his daughter on the forehead, before they both stepped into the tent.

Lily was pretty sure she wouldn't have moved an inch if her father hadn't nudged her along.

It was beautiful – silver decorations and red roses accenting the furniture, a long red carpet leading up to the head of the gazebo, a wooden platform for the altar, the wedding march softly played from a grand piano at the left side of the alter.

But her surroundings weren't what held Lily's attention.

Her eyes were fixed on James's, her dazzling smile matching his exactly.

And then Lily was walking up the isle towards him, her small hand placed in his large one.

"I missed you," she said quietly, as the short, bearded wizard started addressing the audience about Merlin's will to join them in marriage; how fitting it was to join two Gryffindors in matrimony in Godric's Hollow.

James smiled, "I missed you, too."

"I won't have to miss you anymore," Lily whispered, playing with his fingers.

"You've got me now," James replied, "for as long as we live."

They both jumped when a cough came from the wizard conducting the ceremony.

He was looking expectantly at Lily.

"Uh," she said, cheeks flaming, "sorry, didn't catch that."

The audience laughed, and Lily saw Sirius cover his face with his hand.

"Do you, Lily Rose Evans, take James Charlus Potter to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. Do you promise to love him and honor him as long as you both shall live?"

Lily smiled. "I do."

James squeezed her fingers as the vicar repeated the vows for him.

"Do you, James Charlus Potter, take Lily Rose Evans to be your wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. Do you promise to love her and honor her as long as you both shall live?"

If Lily had smiled, James positively beamed. He didn't look away from her as he said a certain, "I do."

Delby Twitching smiled toothily. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. James, you may kiss your bride."

And he did, more than happily.

* * *

><p>James had really put himself out.<p>

Both of them beaming, James led Lily outside by the hand.

That was when the band started playing.

James grinned and bowed. "May I have the honour, Mrs Potter?"

Lily grinned. "You may, I suppose," she said, laughing when her husband signalled to the band and grabbed her round the waist.

It wasn't a slow dance, but they twirled slowly and gracefully across the dance floor nonetheless.

"The song," Lily said in sudden realisation, "it was on at the party in the common room."

James nodded, grinning. He looked delighted that she'd remembered. "_Your Tracing Charm_ by The Pumpkin Chasers. Our real first dance."

"When I nicked the Chocolate Frog?" Lily laughed.

"Mmm..." James said, his grip tightening around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer. "When I was trying to get it back? I'll admit now that the frog wasn't my only ulterior motive."

"Oh really," Lily smiled up at him. "What was the _real _ulterior motive, then?"

James's eyes were bright and clear from behind his glasses. "I think you know that."

"Mmm?"

He smiled. "In an ideal world, it turned out something like this."

James's lips met Lily's again – the second time since they'd become husband and wife.

His lips were soft, gentle against hers; his heartbeat rapid, matching hers exactly. He smelt like pine and hair products (Lily presumed that he'd been attempting to flatten down his hair before the wedding). One of his hands ran up her back and her neck, until his hand was cupping her cheek. Then he pulled away, leaving them both breathless.

"This – meaning the kiss... or the wedding?" Lily asked, her breathing still erratic.

James pressed a kiss into her hair. They'd given up dancing steps now – as the first slow dance came on, James and Lily were circling with their arms around each other, barely making an effort to step in time, and entirely oblivious of the cheering crowd.

"Initially, the kiss," James answered finally. "The wedding – I could barely let myself hope."

Lily loosened herself from his grip slightly, so she could properly look up into his eyes.

"I love you," Lily said simply.

James looked back down at her, his hazel eyes still shining, but intense as they gazed into hers.

"I love you," James replied, and Lily knew it was true. From the way he said it, from the look in his eyes. By the way he touched her, kissed her, and from the way he laughed when they were together.

Lily kissed him lightly on the lips once more, and the slow dance ended.

The guests began to pool onto the dance floor for the third song, but Lily and James paid no attention; far too enwrapped in each other to notice their surroundings.

And that's where we leave Lily and James – happy and together on their wedding day. We all know that this wasn't the end to Lily's story, that she was destined for great things yet.

Lily Potter was a heroine. But first and foremost, she was a woman. Lily was a woman with fears, with friends. She was a woman who no doubt cried, but she laughed too.

Most importantly, she loved.

And that's the real moral to this story. Lily Potter loved until the end, and it was that love that saved her son.

Remember Lily's story.

Remember to love.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Done! I can hardly believe it. Seriously, guys. This is the weirdest feeling.**

**I want to say a **_**massive**_** thank you to anyone who has favourited or alerted me or the story, and a **_**colossal**_** thank you to anyone who has reviewed. You guys are what make it worth uploading on this site.**

**I'm sad to see this story coming to a finish, but I did feel that this was the natural ending. I'll miss writing it!**

**But, of course, I'm not abandoning fanfiction! I'll still be writing one-shots, Enough Trouble for a Lifetime (my trio fic), and possibly some new multi-chapters coming up in the future. **_**Possibly**_** including a new Lily/James fic! So keep an eye out if you like my writing – I'm not done just yet.**

**Again, just a massive thank you to anyone who's been supporting me. And an extra-special thank you to Camilla, who's been there since the very beginning of this story, and before that!**

**Okay, I'll stop with this excessively-long Author's Note now.**

**Thanks again!**

**Love always,**

**Abi xx**


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